Good afternoon, everybody.

Welcome to the Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting of January twenty ninth, twenty twenty-six.

Our committee liaison, Sarah Jordan will provide information and instruction for the public to participate in today's meeting.

Sarah, please proceed.

Members of the public who wish to provide testimony via a call in or internet-based service option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first.

Councilmember Von Wilbert.

Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Here, Chair Whitburn.

Here.

Also attending today's meeting is City Attorney Representative Dana Fairchild, Mayoral Representative Randy Wilde, and IBA representative Gillian Andalina.

If you're in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and place it in the speaker slip box at the lectern at the front of the room.

Please do so in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management.

Members of the public can join the webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone by accessing the link which is listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage.

To join the Zoom webinar by telephone, please dial 1669-2545252.

And when prompted, input webinar ID 160-229-4290 pound.

This information is also available on the agenda and it will appear on the screen during the public comment period for each agenda item.

Please note that if you're watching via City TV 24 online, there may be delay.

Please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it is your turn to speak.

If you wish to speak to a particular item, please wait for that item to be called and then raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon if you're a Zoom user, or if you're a call and participant by selecting star nine on your phone.

If you raise your hand during a non comment period, your hand will be lowered, Chair.

Thank you, Sarah.

A quorum is now present.

As a note to the public, we're going to be hearing the agenda out of order today.

We'll take items one through eight in order.

Then we're going to take information item 10, followed by discussion item nine, and then we'll go to item 11.

So in effect, we're just switching up items nine and 10.

We'll now take up not agenda public comment.

Uh the council members respect and appreciate the public's input and are fully committed to protecting every participant's free speech rights at council and committee meetings.

Sarah, please proceed with further instructions.

Thank you, Chair Whitburn per Rule 2.7, not agenda public comment as an opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are not on the agenda but are within the subject matter jurisdiction of this committee.

And each speaker will have two minutes.

As a reminder, if you're on City TV of the live stream, you can call 1669-2545-252.

And when prompted, input webinar ID 160-229-4290 pound.

We have received one speaker slip here in chambers, so we will begin with in-person testimony.

Al Del Mastro, if you could please approach the lector, and you will have two minutes to provide your non-agenda public comment.

Hi, my name is El Del Mastro.

Um I'm a um disabled veteran.

I'm um I'm a senior and I'm an ex-blue-collar worker.

Um, I really want to thank the committee yesterday that opposed um having a second home.

Me and my wife are looking for one.

It would be unbelievable burden.

I'm a small mom and pop landlord, and the tenant protection laws are uh just about ruined us.

Uh, you've chased many people out of the community that have been mom and pop small landlords, people that have like less than 10 units.

Me and my wife bought a fiveplex uh in 2004.

We did that to be responsible seniors as a blue-collar worker.

I don't have a pension to support myself like I do just having these little units like that.

The law is so strict against us now.

We have a tenant that um uh he can do whatever he wants.

He can pay his rent late every month, he can uh park anywhere he wants, he doesn't have to pick up after his pet, and because on how strict the law is, is that we have to we have to continue to rent with him after the lease is over.

So we live on this property and we have to live with this, and he's also a little bit abusive to the other neighbors, and there's nothing I can do about it.

And uh, it's a little fair.

Maybe we ought to roll it back to where the state is.

This idea of one day protection.

You know, if you had a staff member that you hired and you owned him a job for the rest of his life because you hired him for one day and you weren't able to have ask him to move, would be a little strict for you guys.

Not everybody's gonna get along with everybody.

So the state allows me to have a year to see if this is gonna work out.

This has uh been a really hardship on me and my family.

So I just really wanted to have your consideration.

I appreciate what you shared yesterday, Mr.

Lee, and saving us from we're thinking about buying a small second home in Moragos Springs.

And that extra eight thousand dollars.

Um, Mr.

Capillo yesterday also mentioned a lot of people are going to short-term rentals.

Thank you.

This does conclude your time.

Because of the Horge tennis laws.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I will begin the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide non-agenda public at comment at this time.

We will begin testimony with Andrea Ebbing.

Please unmute and begin.

You will have two minutes to share your comment.

Hi, my name is Andrea Ebbing, and I survived a horrific violent crime in San Diego in District 7 in Linda Vista.

My daughters were abducted.

And the county has awarded him millions of taxpayer dollars despite years of reports of opioid distribution, insurance fraud, body brokering, incredible, like tons of embezzlement, fraud, um, steroid attempting to smuggle steroids over the US Mexico border.

The city of San Diego was suing him while the city attorney was taking kickbacks from him for defendants' placements diversion programs.

And while the city of San Diego is suing him, the county of San Diego was awarding him millions upon millions of dollars to install him because he's a great candidate to do the very dirty corrupt things that had and are continuing to take place, but not as obvious.

I just want to say that the pain that my daughters and I have been forced to live in is not a joke.

And uh anyone who wants to play a role in distracting me from this mission, which is to disdisrupt and dismantle the RICO enterprise that made this possible so we can access the law and our rights, because until then, the 21 people that are now down as a result of being a part of this, um, are just the first 21.

There'll be plenty more.

And the people that are like there was somebody uh, I'm gonna make a nice public records request and find out who was sniffling, snorting, and making disgusting noises over my comments during uh one of the uh meetings.

I'm gonna trace that back to the IP and Mac address of the person that did that, and they'll be named in my RICO case.

My RICO case is the case that makes this a RICO enterprise.

You need um the elements of violent crime, abduction, interstate commerce, and major narcotics or some such uh level of pattern of behavior.

My case checks every box.

Mine makes it a Rico Enterprise for all.

Thank you.

Thank you for your concluding statement.

Our next speaker, Judy Strang, please unmute and begin.

Sorry, good afternoon, active transportation infrastructure committee and Chair Whitburn.

I noticed that all four of you, although we're missing Van Wilper, served last year on the committee.

There was considerable time a conversation a year ago regarding support for Vision Zero.

And I hope that conversation returns.

That strategic plan is important to the safety of pedestrians in particular, but to all of us, uh promoting safe driving is personal to me.

I have 19 grandchildren, 15 of whom are driving now.

I also lost my youngest daughter in a driving accident as an innocent victim, and I'm well aware of what drug-impaired and distracted driving effects of that situation is.

And I have appreciated in the past the work of your police department and your city attorney in bringing new awareness regarding that sort of driving besides alcohol impaired driving.

As the National Safety Council's fact sheet recently said, it's unsafe to be under the influence of cannabis, and it has a major impact on safety in our roadways.

That's because marijuana use slows reaction time, impacts memory, affects coordination, and impairs the skills that are so essential to driving.

I'd like to see more work done and getting these media messages out regarding marijuana and drug impaired driving.

And I often think of how kind of duplicitous it is to drive down the freeway and see large billboards for marijuana storefronts.

It seems like a contradiction in terms when we want a safer community.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

Our next speaker, Madison Rapp.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, thank you.

Good afternoon.

Um, as a mother of three young children and a concerned San Diego resident, I wanted to draw your attention to a growing public health issue that should inform how we think about safe youth-friendly infrastructure in our city.

The sharp rise in emergency room visits for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome or CHS among adolescents.

CHS is a serious vomiting disorder caused by chronic cannabis use.

According to a study published in JAMA Network Open, CHS-related ER visits among 13 to 21-year-olds have increased more than tenfold since 2016.

These visits are rising in every state, regardless of whether cannabis is permitted recreationally.

But the states, the rates are highest in the states where it is.

This matters for our infrastructure because the presence and visibility of cannabis dispensaries, especially in walkable transit connected areas, shapes the youth's perception of risk.

Sorry.

More stores, more marketing, and more edible products with high THC levels means more access, and that means more use.

And that use is sending young people, some of who are just teenagers, to the ER with severe recurring illness.

We often talk about creating healthy accessible spaces for San Diego's youth, but we can't separate that from what surrounds them.

If our sidewalks and transit corridors are lined with pot shops, we are making a clear statement about what kind of prior environment we prioritize.

I urge this committee to think critically about how infrastructure intersects with public health.

Youth-friendly neighborhoods should mean safe routes, clean air, and protection from mind-altering substances that are making the teen sick.

We should make smarter choices about where these businesses operate and how we protect our most vulnerable residents.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The five-minute timer has concluded.

We have one final hand in the queue, and we will take no other callers beyond this remaining individual.

Kathleen Lippett, please unmute and begin.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, committee.

My name is Kathleen Lippett.

And on behalf of public health and safety, I've advocated for public policies that protect the public from unreasonable or unnecessary risks.

And our laws should reflect societal concern for preventing vehicle industry injuries and deaths from DUI.

But California has been on a decades-long slide to prioritize those who violate the law over their victims.

That's not compassion.

It is cruel for the victims as well as their victimizers.

If your policies cause harm, it is your responsibility to abandon them.

One of the issues that I think the public is rather confused by are your uh continuing to put in more and more bicycle lanes with signs on the freeway that says share the road.

Share the road with bicycles.

It is not clear what you mean, whether you mean motorcycles or bicycles, but it is what is clear is it is not safe to have bicycle lanes right next to cars that are going 40, 50 miles an hour.

So I would hope that you would revisit that because it is it's a recipe for people to die.

And there are many places the public is not asking for more and more bike lanes.

You might have a handful of really um folks who are avid bicycle riders.

But for most, for many people, it is not safe when you're elderly or handicapped.

It is not reasonable to say, well, just ride your bike.

Any event.

I hope that you will start uh paying more attention to the repeat, especially with the marijuana that we have now.

We have far more DUIs.

Thank you.

Thank you for that concluding statement.

And chair, this concludes non-agenda public comment.

Thank you, Sarah.

Are there any committee, mayoral, city attorney, or independent budget idlist comments this afternoon?

Seeing none, do we have any requests for continuance?

Hearing none, let's move on to our agenda for today.

We're gonna begin by dispensing with the approval of our consent items.

Uh, do we have any requests to poll any items from the consent calendar?

Seeing none, uh, we will move forward with public comment on the consent agenda.

Sarah, please proceed.

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for the consent agenda is now open.

The consent agenda includes items one through five.

Item one, approval of the committee minutes from November 20th, 2025.

Item two, request an extension of concert construction contract with TC construction incorporated for the construction of sewer and AC Water Group 763 project.

Authorization, item number three is authorization of construction change order number one for the South Choice Yard Emergency Repairs for Emergency Sole Source Contract.

Item four, contribution agreement with the City of Chula Vista for Heritage Road Bridge T-16.2.

And item five, request for the extension of construction contract with Blue Pacific Engineering and Construction for University Avenue Mobility Project.

Please note each speaker will have one minute per item with a total maximum of three minutes.

When I call on you, if you can please indicate which item or items you'll be speaking to.

We've not received any speaker slips here in chambers for the consent agenda.

So I will begin the five-minute timer for those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment on the consent agenda.

We will begin with Andrea Ebbing.

Ms.

Ebbing, if you can please unmute and let us know which item or items you'll be speaking to on the consent agenda.

Oh hi, this is Andrea Ebbing.

I would like to speak to item number um four.

Item number four, item number five, and item number seven.

All right, we'll place three minutes on the clock for you to manage.

Please begin.

Oh, item excuse me.

Item number seven is a discussion item.

We are the consent agenda items one through five.

So four or five.

And is there another one that you would like to speak to?

Uh yeah, I'll take um item one.

But I'm gonna start with um the four, item four.

All right, I three minutes, please begin.

Thank you.

Hi, this is Andrea.

Uh, being able to speak on item number four, so the establishment of the residential parking program.

I just uh I'm very very concerned about the parking situation and fees and all of the um tickets and I'm I'm sure you guys saw there was that couple of years.

I'm gonna pause I'm gonna pause your time.

Item number item number four is the contribution agreement to the city of Chula Vista for Heritage Road Bridge.

Oh, I'm looking at non-agenda public comment, consent agenda.

Oh, okay, I see, I see.

Wait, consent agenda item one, item two, item three.

So it's just the first three.

No, on today's agenda, there are five consent agenda items.

You know, I'm gonna have to skip because I think I'm on a wrong day.

I apologize.

No problem.

Thank you.

And chair with no other hands up in the queue.

This will conclude testimony on consent agenda items one through five.

Thank you, Sarah.

And to our public comment, or I think you were looking at the minutes from last month's meeting.

Um we are on the consent calendar.

Uh do we have uh any committee member questions or comments?

Uh we'll begin with Councilmember Foster.

Uh yes, thank you, Chair.

I will move uh the consent agenda.

Very good.

Thank you.

And we have a second from Councilmember Lee.

Uh seeing no further discussion, uh, Sarah, please call the roll.

And the consent agenda passes 30 with council member von Wilpert absent.

Thank you.

We will now move on to our discussion agenda.

Sarah, please introduce the next item.

Thank you, Chair.

Item number six is the creation of an annual allocation for the convention center modernization projects and approval of the fiscal year 26 itemized budget for the convention center revenue account under measure C.

And if you're watching on City TV or the live stream online, you'd like to dial in to speak.

Please call 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 160-229-4290 pound, Chair.

Thank you very much.

Uh please uh introduce yourselves for the record.

Let us know how much time you'd like for your presentation and feel free to begin when you're ready.

Uh we'll need 10 minutes, please.

Uh good afternoon, Chair Ritman, members of the committee.

Um Chitin, Drake through Engineering Capital Projects Department.

Joining me today is Dominique Das, interim Deputy Director with the same department.

Staff from City Attorney's Office and the Department of Finance are also in attendance to support the item.

Before we start, I would like to acknowledge the San Diego Commission Center Corporation, Mr.

Cushman, a special advisor to the mayor, and Rani Aman, Chief of Community Services Officer, for that collaboration, support, and guidance provided during uh during the bringing this item before you.

Now we'll I'll turn it over to Dominique to present the item.

Thank you, Leaf.

Well, uh, my name is Dominic Dowds, interim deputy director with engineering capital projects.

I'm here to present item six related to the creation of the annual allocation of the convention center modernization projects and approval of the FY26 budget.

Uh a quick summary of the uh actions being presented.

So uh first we are looking to approve the annual atom-wise budget for FY26 for the convention center revenue account.

We're looking also to have the uh authorization for the CFO to add a new light item to the city CIP for the convention center improvements and also authorize the CFO to transfer 21.4 roughly million dollars from the business area 9913 to the newly created CIP line item to initiate these modernization projects.

The portion of the projected measure C TOT revenues are shown in this table.

Um, and this accounts for the 59% allocation of the overall T2 revenues to the actual convention center.

Uh the proposed actions today seek the authority to use the portion of these a portion of these revenues uh for the modernization projects.

So roughly 21.4 million of the indicated 45.6 projected revenue for FY26.

This table here shows the um excuse me.

This table here shows the um identified modernization projects uh for the coming five years, uh, focusing on FY26.

You'll see the uh items highlighted in yellow.

Uh the main projects are going to focus on um the roof replacement for the facility and the overall of the central plant.

Um all projects considered are again roughly that 21.4 million dollars uh for 20 for FY2026.

Uh as a brief background for the facility.

So the convention center was originally erected in 1989 and then underwent a expansion in 2001, increasing the total usable square footage to approximately 20 uh 2.6 million square feet.

Uh the facility is a class A facility, and it is primarily uh cast in place concrete construction with some precast concrete elements.

Uh the major building systems include a central chilled water plant, large air handling units, gas fired boilers, and emergency generators.

The operational context of this facility is a high use, mission critical public facility requiring limited downtime.

Historic funding has focused primarily on operations and debt service, uh, unfortunately leaving insufficient funding for long-term capital renewal.

Uh there have been increasing system failures, namely the boilers and chillers, electrical infrastructure, plumbing, and then the rate events uh last month uh really shed light to the the ongoing roof leaks for the facility.

Uh while the facility remains functional, it is aging and will require capital investment to maintain its class A standard.

Um we're obviously looking to minimize the service disruptions and potential safety concerns that have been flagged.

Back in 2022, the convention center uh hired a third party to conduct a property condition assessment basically to help develop the uh the proposed projects that we're bringing today.

Um what that assessment yielded was essentially a facility cons facility condition index score, um, and that essentially is just the cost for repairs divided by the overall cost for replacement of the facility.

Um the closer you get to one, the worse off you are.

Um the 2022 numbers indicate a 0.023 rating, and uh fast forwarding to 2026, that number is elevated to 0.035.

Um the assessment also noted um around 244 million of estimated capital needs over the next 25 years, and then uh when you factor in inflation, that number uh comes close to uh 453 million.

Uh the strategy for the CIP modernization projects are gonna prioritize life safety and critical system operations, uh focus on near-term reliability and risk reduction for the systems overall to the facility.

It's a multi-year modernization effort uh with focuses on sustainability and energy efficiency goals.

So, again, quickly to summarize the the actions that we're bringing for you today.

Um we are looking to uh establish that line item for the CIP, um authorize the chief financial officer to imbue funds into that new account uh to few to essentially uh fund these um new CIPs that we're taking on for the modernization.

Thank you, and I'll open it up to questions.

Thank you for the presentation.

Sarah, please proceed with public comment.

Thank you, Chair.

We have received one speaker slip here in chambers for item six.

Robert Gleason, if you could please approach the elector, and you will have two minutes to share your comment.

Thank you very much.

Um, Mr.

Chair and uh count uh committee members.

Robert Gleason, for today's purposes, I'm chair of the San Diego County Lodging Association.

It's a little odd for me to be here to express concern around um this item.

I would step backward to note that we're using Measure C money.

That was a citizens' initiative brought together by a coalition of business uh business organizations, including the uh predecessor hotel organizations, the uh labor council and building trades, and the chamber of commerce.

We wrote funded and then eventually litigated that um the initiative.

It was meant to be a source of new revenue and it was sold to the voters that way.

Um it's troubling that the very first funding request that's coming from measure C money is really outside of that intended scope, and that none of the original initiative proponents were included in conversations about that.

There's not really a second chance to make a first impression in this regard.

Today's items, as you as you saw in the presentation, are really deferred maintenance.

They're not for modernization, they're not for expansion.

They may be uh they're being called infrastructure because infrastructure is mentioned once in the initiative.

City has been underfunding capital needs at the convention center for years, started under prior administrations and councils and continues.

As we as we say in therapy, both these things are true.

Um the projects need to proceed.

The convention center needs to have its deferred maintenance.

But it's also true that as we move forward, we need better guardrails about these expenditures.

We need to ensure that we are uh saving money for the truly um the true modernization and expansion of the center as contemplated in Measure C.

Um, we request that we a formal advisory committee be set up for the fun uh convention center funds.

There is one in the initiative for homelessness programs because we were concerned the city would be trying to subvert those funds, um, and we see the same thing happening now at the convention center, um, and that we have a seat on the homelessness advisory program as well.

So um recognize you want to move the item forward today, but wanted to express our concern about the funding mechanism.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

I will be in the five minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment to item six.

Each speaker will have two minutes, and we will begin testimony with Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, thank you, Blair Beekman.

Thanks a lot for this item.

Um interesting public comment previously.

Um I know Joyce Sonata, who used to attend our public meetings regularly, and uh I'm sorry she no longer is.

I know she's moved on to Chula Vista.

She's attending uh the public meetings down there more often.

Hopefully, she can return and weigh in on this issue.

Um she's spoken for years in the needs of upgrades and and what um the the previous speaker spoke of uh revitalization of the convention center area.

Maybe there's a way to combine uh you know revitalization along with upgrades for the future of the convention area.

Um Joy Sanana is much more adept at this conversation than I am.

Uh it's good to know that uh it sounds like there has been some serious problems with the convention center, and that you're trying to address them can be very important.

Um good luck how to frame that within um uh uh best practices, what what can be developing uh for the future development of the area.

And of course, as you'll be developing these uh new things, uh good luck in that the tech involved in that development will be accountable, open, and clear with the public, and that you want to be working towards those good terms.

Not that you have to, but because you really want to.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment and chair seeing no other hands up in the queue.

This concludes testimony for item six.

Thank you very much, Sarah.

Uh, we will open it up to uh committee questions uh and comments.

Uh, we'll entertain a motion.

I'll begin.

Uh the convention center is here in District 3.

Uh and I want to thank uh Mr.

Gleason for his uh comments and Mr.

Taiko also from the lodging association.

We would not be here uh were it not for the hoteliers and all the efforts of the hoteliers to secure the passage of Measure C, which uh as Mr.

Gleason mentioned, not only uh advances the expansion and modernization of the convention center, it also pres uh uh provides very uh important needed funds for homeless services uh and for uh the streets uh here in the city, and obviously the uh logic association has a real interest uh in seeing uh measure C being implemented as uh has always been attended.

I was a strong supporter of Measure C.

I have always believed that the convention center needs to be expanded, uh, and I continue to believe that.

Uh, and I look forward to uh the coming conversations uh to effectuate that.

Um we also need to modernize uh the convention center, ensure that it's in good working order.

Um there is all kinds of competition for uh conventions and meeting space around the country.

Uh a lot of other uh cities uh have expanded their convention centers, uh, are modernizing their convention centers.

We'll always be a destination uh for anybody who is in the Northeast who is unfortunate enough to be watching this meeting.

Uh it is sunny and 75 in San Diego today.

Uh we will always be an attractive place to have a meeting or to have a convention, uh, but we could only get by at our looks for so long.

Uh we do have to have uh a convention center that is uh functioning well.

And uh I see uh convention center uh chair Rodriguez Kennedy here, as well as the CEO uh in the audience of Mattox appreciate you being here and very much appreciate all that you have done uh to ensure that our convention center continues to be an attractive venue in spite of uh the the needs that uh it continues to have uh that we are addressing today.

Uh so with that, uh as was noted, we uh have some needs.

Uh we have some funding to uh address those needs that I will make the motion to adopt the staff recommendation and I'll turn it over to Councilmember Lee.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, and I will really just echo what uh the chair has already shared in terms of looking forward with the convention center.

And I recognize um where the revenues were uh lined out in terms of a number of uh uh not just needs in terms of the building and the deferred maintenance, but also future needs to ensure that we actually have a convention center that continues to be competitive.

Uh but there's a simple reality.

I think many of us have toured um the convention center as of late.

We've seen some of the emergency repairs that have been necessary in order to keep it functioning and to keep it at the rate that um it uh is ability to attract um tourism and conferences and more.

And uh losing that would be crippling for us even as we pursue the continued need to expand it as well.

So um with that, I certainly am happy to support and second um the motion.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Councilmember Lee.

All right.

Uh we have a motion that I made, a second from Councilmember Lee.

Uh Sarah, please call the roll.

Item six passes unanimously 3-0 with Councilmember Von Wilbert absent.

Thank you, sir.

Please introduce item number seven.

Item seven is the third addendum to the third amended and restated management agreement between the City of San Diego and the San Diego Convention Center Corporation, and the designation of specific future convention center capital improvement projects as covered projects under the project labor agreement.

And if you're watching on City TV or the live stream online, you'd like to speak, call 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 16029, 4290 pound.

Chair.

Thank you, Sarah.

Welcome back for this item.

Uh for the record, please introduce yourselves uh again for the record.

Let us know how much time you'd like for your presentation to begin when you're ready.

Uh 10 minutes, please.

Um Good afternoon, Chair Redburn, members of the committee again.

Um my name is Elif Chitin, a director of engineering capital projects today.

Here with me, uh uh uh here with me today is Dominique Das, he's the interim deputy director with the same department, and he's going to give the presentation.

Thank you, Leaf.

Hi, my name is Dominic Dowds, interim deputy director with engineering capital projects.

I will be presenting item seven, uh focusing on the updated management agreement between the City of San Diego and the San Diego Convention Center Corporation.

As a summary to the requested action, uh we are seeking to authorize the mayor or designee to delegate the CIP projects to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation, sign the proposed third addendum to the existing management agreement or to the new management agreement, and to sign the documents needed to allow the convention center corporation to execute these CIP projects.

We're also looking to authorize the chief financial officer to make fund transfers to the San Diego Convention Center to execute these budgeted uh projects.

And lastly, we are looking to establish a resolution for designating specific C uh convention center CIP projects under a covered projects uh that will be uh subject to the city's existing PLA.

So as a brief background, um the third amended and restated management agreement went into place in May uh 2005, and the first addendum went in place in March 2012.

Uh this addendum allowed the convention center corporation to enter third-party marketing and promotion agreements.

Uh it addressed the allocation of annual operating surplus funds and required compliance with the city's equal benefits uh ordinance.

The second addendum occurred in November of that same year in 2012, um, and that was uh executed after the convention center corporation entered into a third-party marketing agreement.

It also removed the surplus fund allocation from the first addendum, leaving the allocate allocation to the typical annual budgeting process.

So the current agreement framework uh with the convention center corporation um essentially outlines that the convention center manages the day-to-day operation of the convention center as an independent contractor.

They are responsible for event booking and marketing, facility operations and maintenance, uh, financial admin and the coordination of capital improvements.

Uh the convention center corporation is subject to city oversight and approved funding.

Um, and it also defines uh the governance, uh, financial reporting and rules to support economic development and tourism.

For this third addendum, uh the key changes will include clarifying provisions.

Um that would include uh it will require the payment of prevailing wages per state law.

Uh it will establish a reimbursement process and compliance and compliance with all laws, permits, and approvals.

It will ensure that the San Diego Convention Center contract or corporation contracts include the city as a specified and specified parties as additional insured and indemnified, and then it also requires the uh payment and performance bonds on uh construction projects.

Additionally, um they'll look to set forth a delegation process um which will allow the city to delegate contracting and oversight of certain CIPs to the convention center corporation uh via individual delegation agreements.

Uh would also allow the mayor authorize the mayor to uh enter into these agreements, setting the city's maximum contribution based off of uh council appropriations and contracting and oversight requirements.

Um, and then lastly, it will um like I said, it will establish these covered uh future CIPs under covered projects again, subject to the existing uh uh project labor agreements that the city enforces.

Quickly summarizing the requested action.

Um, so it would look to allow the city to delegate contracting and oversight of certain CIPs to the San Diego Convention Center via individual delegation agreements.

Uh the mayor would then be authorized to enter into agreements setting both the city's maximum contribution based off the council appropriation and contracting oversight requirements, and lastly, uh the identified cover projects would be subject to the city's existing uh PLA agreements.

And with that, I'll open it up to questions.

Thank you, Sarah.

Please proceed with public comment.

Thank you, Chair.

We've received five slips here in chambers, so I will call these five individuals down to the front reserve seats.

We'll begin with Ansermio Estrada.

You will be followed by Matthew Leva, Adrian Lopez, Sean Ellis, and David Zapeta.

And each speaker will have two minutes.

I want to thank you all for hearing this item and for uh uh recognizing just how much of a cornerstone how much of a pillar the convention center is for the economic health uh and prosperity of this city and uh and this region.

Um you're absolutely right.

Like we can only get by on our good looks for so long.

Uh it needs uh different maintenance to be addressed, and our members are here to do that, and we are hopeful that this committee decides to move forward and place the uh upcoming additional CIPs under the project labor agreement so our convention center can have skilled and trained workers do the work that they know how to do that they spend years uh studying and training to do in the field and in the classroom, and really give the city a product that can make them proud.

So please uh move this item forward.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Matthew Lebell.

Good afternoon, Chair, honorable members of the council.

My name is Matthew Lebigonzalez.

I am the business representative for the San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council.

We're the umbrella organization for 22 construction craft unions in San Diego and over 35,000 hardworking men and women skilled and trained throughout the San Diego area.

Um I'm just gonna touch on one point regarding the PLA and what it it establishes.

So one of the big issues is a local hire element of a PLA.

So there's nothing better than making sure individuals that are working on these projects are funneled in from the surrounding areas and neighborhoods because one individuals that are skilled and trained, they they tend to be empowered and they have ownership on what they do and what what their craft is.

This just helps them cosmetically appeal in the neighborhoods that they live in.

And and this is a big asset because without long commutes, individuals that are working on these projects are able to spend more time with their families, volunteering for you know, little league, whatever the case may be, and they're able to spend more quality time with their families in in lieu of being stuck in long commutes.

So I I strongly urge you to please support this PLA.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Adrian Lopez.

Um good afternoon.

My name is Adrian Lopez, and I'm uh proud to represent Rufers and Guadalupe Proofers Local 45.

Our members working in the Tugus Condition, using skills and dedication to keep to keep these communities safe and stand these strong.

Supporting strong labor agreements means protecting local job jobs, fair wage, and real opportunities for workers to build better life.

So please, both years from PLA.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Sean Ellis.

Uh good evening, uh Chair, uh Council members.

Uh it's always good to see you guys.

I'm actually here to say uh, hey, let's support this PLA.

I'm in favor.

I'm actually really excited.

Let me get right down to it.

We built it, we still maintain it, and we're gonna be there in the future for it, right?

I could sit here and tell you what PLAs actually mean, but it gives everybody private sector and union sector the opportunity to make a living wage, have that ladder of opportunity into the middle class.

So let's just stop beating around the bush.

PLAs work in every other capital project.

I travel the country on behalf of the United Association and PLAs um exist in red states, they exist in blue states.

So, hey, we're looking forward.

We're gonna build a great project here that's gonna provide a living wage.

Our members are gonna go to work, we're gonna be able to organize and be able to provide a great product for the people of San Diego.

So I'm looking forward to your leadership.

Once again, I stand in favor.

I represent 19,000 plumbers and pipe fitters in this region and 2,000 in your city alone.

So we're looking forward to building this bad boy for you guys.

Thank you for your time and PLAs work everywhere.

Thank you.

Thank you.

David Zapeta.

Good afternoon, committee members.

Uh, my name is David Cepela, and I'm a union painter and a proud member of Painters in Allied Trades Local 1399.

I'm here to speak in support of adding future convention center CIP projects under the citywide project labor agreement.

Our agreements include local hire provisions that will put local workers who live, work, and pay taxes in the city of San Diego to work on the San Diego Convention Center.

That keeps valuable public dollars in our communities and allows these dollars to change hands up to six times in our local community.

This would also increase the opportunities for targeted recruitment for apprenticeship programs, apprenticeships that start with the job and lead to quality family health, dental and retirement benefits for all construction workers on covered projects.

For many construction workers, these agreements will provide life-changing benefits for themselves and their families for the first time and create family legacies for generations.

My family and I have benefited from these opportunities.

I'm a third generation painter, and for the first 10 years of my career, I was non-union, where I made a decent wage but never experienced having benefits with good health care and pension until I worked on my first project labor agreement.

And I believe my community will be stronger if my neighbors have the same opportunities as I do.

And uh I ask you to support investing in our local skilled and trained workforce and vote in support of adding future convention center CIP projects under the citywide project labor agreement.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And we have received one final slip here in chambers for Jennifer Wilson who wishes to register her position in favor of the item, but does not wish to provide a comment.

And seeing no hands up in the virtual queue, this will conclude testimony for item seven.

Thank you very much, Sarah.

Thank you again for the presentation on this item.

Uh really appreciate uh the testimony from the San Diego Building and Construction Trades Council, as well as the Roofers, the United Association, Plumbers and Pipe Fitters, the Painters and Allied Trades.

Uh thank you for all you do to move our city forward uh and for the great careers that you provide.

So many San Diegans, uh, this PLA is a part of that.

Uh I am happy to make the motion to adopt the staff recommendation, and I'll hand it over to Councilmember Lee.

Thank you, Chair, and I'll go ahead and second the motion.

All right, we have a motion and a second.

Uh seeing no further discussion, clerk, please call the roll.

And item seven passes unanimously 30 with Council Member Von Wilbert absent.

Thank you, Sarah.

All right, please introduce item number eight.

Thank you, Chair.

Item number eight is the ratification of 23 emergency sole source contracts for the fiscal year 2025.

And if you're watching on City TV or the live stream online and you'd like to call in to speak, please dial 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 160-229-4290 pound.

Chair.

Thank you, Sarah.

All right, please uh introduce yourselves for the record.

Uh let us know how much time you'd like for the presentation, and please feel free to begin when you're ready.

Yes, uh good afternoon, Chair Whitburden.

My name is Chris Gascon, assistant deputy director with the Engineering Capital Projects Department.

We'll need 10 minutes.

Uh, with me here today uh to discuss um item number eight, which is the ratification of the 23 emergency sole source contracts.

I have senior civil engineer Zhang Choi, and he'll be providing the presentation.

Good afterno good afternoon.

My name is uh Zhang Choi.

I'm the senior civil engineer with Engineer Capital Projects in charge of the emergency section.

So as uh Chris mentioned, the item that we have before you today is for the ratification of 23 emergency uh contracts that were executed in fiscal year 25.

So as you may know, uh, whenever we have an emergency situation, um, the city engineer has the authority to declare emergency and uh execute an emergency contract.

Um but per the Municode, uh, we have to subsequently ratify these contracts.

Uh it has to be they have to be ratified by the uh city council.

And what we typically do in our department is we compile and gather these up and group them by uh fiscal year, and we present them for ratification to council in a yearly basis.

So in fiscal year 25, uh we had 23 contracts that we executed uh that amounts to about 68 million dollars.

Um as you can see on the screen, uh we had various uh asset types, but the vast majority of these are stormwater related assets.

Um eighteen out of the 23 uh are stormwater related assets that amount to about 49 million dollars.

Uh in the next three slides, uh I'm gonna live these are the list of the specific projects that are related to the um contracts uh that are being ratified.

And in the next few slides, I have some pictures that I want to share with you of the some of the projects uh that are listed on these uh uh ratification.

And this one is at the Crystal Pier.

Um about two years ago, a strong storm came um through and uh displaced several beams, uh braces and uh column piles of the pier.

And as you can see on the left, um this uh brought us uh a great concern and we were worried that the entire structure could unravel if this wasn't uh repaired immediately.

Uh this is uh more of a typical stormwater uh emergency project.

Um as you can see on the left, the storm drain pipe uh failed, which led to a slope failure.

Uh another storm drain emergency where a slow failure occurred due to a uh storm drain uh uh pipe breaking and uh right next to a residential home.

Uh this next one is a sinkhole again caused by a storm uh drain uh failure in the middle of the road.

This one is a uh another sinkhole that appeared next to a uh 15-story residential condominium complex uh in North Park.

Uh another storm drain failure with uh uh slope uh that as you can see on the left that failed.

And this one is a at a storm drain um stormwater pump station uh that pumps uh stormwater out of a neighborhood, but the pipe actually broke as you can see on the left.

Uh this is a forcement, and we have to replace that quickly to um get this facility back in operations.

And that is the conclusion of our presentation, and I'll take any questions.

Thank you.

Sarah, please proceed with public hubit.

Thank you, Chair.

We have not received any slips in chambers for item number eight, and there are no hands up in the virtual queue, so this will conclude testimony for item eight.

All right, thank you again for the presentation.

Uh, we will open it up to committee discussion.

Uh, appreciate you coming uh before the committee for the ratification of these uh emergency fixes.

I'll be happy to make the motion to adopt the staff recommendation.

And I will entertain a second.

We have a second from Councilmember Bod Wilpert.

Uh Sarah, please call the role.

Oh, we have a uh comment from uh Councilmember Foster.

Thank you.

Um I just would be remiss if I did not um indicate um this is um I I know the emergency circumstances, but this work is done on TNM, and I just you know we're paying a premium.

Um and so all of our preventative maintenance, all of work that we can do and should be doing, we need to make sure that we are putting our best foot forward.

Um also um just as in the past, right?

Making sure we're not creating an emergency, right?

Because when we do these contracts, a lot of our standard processes and procedures are do not apply, right?

And so I just want to make sure we're doing our due diligence and getting done what we need to get done.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

All right, I made a motion to adopt the staff recommendation, and we will now go to Councilmember Bud Wilbert.

Thank you, Chair.

Um I uh now that uh uh Councilmember Foster brought it up.

I do want to ask about you know, with our our storm grain system in particular, we we were thinking about doing more in-housing of emergency repair crews so that we wouldn't have to pay the high prices contractors.

So where are we with that?

Do we still have two teams?

Are we gonna go to three?

Where are we at?

Actually, Stormwater Department is here to answer operational and funding related questions.

So, someone if you could help good afternoon, Summer Hassan and Deputy Director with the Swarmwater Department.

Uh we do, we still have um two uh pipe repair crews.

Uh we never uh received the third one.

And even with the two, I think as uh Todd and others uh briefed during the budget briefings.

We have redirected part of the second uh crew toward channel maintenance because that's obviously became a big priority because of the January 2024 flooding, but we still utilize the full crew and we have multiple projects that are ongoing.

And they did start actually taking on uh some of the smaller, more simpler and straightforward emergency projects as well.

Okay.

And they are more cost effective than using outside contractors.

Absolutely.

They're more cost effective and uh definitely a lot more streamlined process in terms of time and as well.

So we I know we're in a budget crunch, but if we're gonna save money, are we thinking about trying to hire a third crew?

Is that up to us?

Is that a nice problem?

I would say that's to be seen through the budget process, right?

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Um well, I would just say if you find these things to be more cost effective, let us know so we can put it in our budget priorities and you know, Randy, keep in touch with us because we know that stormwater is going to consistently be a project we have to work on.

Um so I'm happy to push for that if that'd be helpful.

Yeah.

I think other factors need to be considered if we talk about the third uh pipe repair crew, uh, because there are limited um uh uh there are certain types of projects that are suitable for in-house crews based on the skill set that our uh crews have and the type of equipment.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's why we end up a lot of time uh given the emergency projects to contractors because they're like within very steep slopes within open space or heavy traffic area.

So there is a big uh list of criteria that we use to evaluate what is suitable for our in-house team versus contractors.

Okay, yeah.

Okay, thank you.

I appreciate it.

Uh of course.

Uh I know it's a never-ending uh pit of literally a pit sometimes.

So I appreciate your work on that.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Um I think those are all my questions and uh comments.

Also, um I was able to listen uh to testimony for items six and seven.

So if possible, I'd like to register a yes vote on item six and seven as well.

Thank you.

All right, we will make that happen.

Uh let's go back to Councilbember Foster.

Thank you.

Just one last question.

On the emergency projects, are they 100% complete?

Or are you going to have to go back in and actually go through a bidding process to actually get um additional work done to um make sure things are 100% complete and sustainable?

Are you asking if these uh 21 of the 23 if they're all complete?

No.

A lot of them, the contracts were executed, but they're still ongoing repairs on all of these.

Some of them are complete, but some of them are still ongoing.

Well, let me ask my question differently.

A lot of times from my past experience, when we go out on the emergency project, we handle it as a triage.

We take care of the specific um deficiency or whatever the emergency is, but then we fall back and have to go and have to come with a permanent type fix.

And so my question is in regards to these projects, right?

I'm looking at a 68 million dollar price tag.

Are we then coming back for some of these and having to do some additional investment in to get the permanent um fix?

Right.

So these projects uh have been repaired in a permanent basis.

So uh once we're complete with the construction, we don't expect the the lifespan should be in decades terms.

Okay.

All right.

We'll do thank you.

Okay, thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Uh we have a motion to adopt the staff recommendation that I put forward and that Councilmember Bon Wilpert seconded.

Uh Sarah, please call the roll.

And item eight passes unanimously, four zero.

Thank you.

We will now move on to our joint presentation for information item 10 and discussion item nine.

Uh after the joint presentation, we'll take public comment on both items together.

Uh and we'll take committee member questions and comments uh on information item 10.

Then we'll take up our discussion on item nine and entertain a motion on that item.

Uh Sarah, please introduce the item.

Thank you, Chair.

Item number 10 is the dam safety program annual update for 2024 and 2025.

And item number nine is award of the as needed DM Design Services Agreements with HDR Engineering Incorporated and Stantec Consulting Services Incorporated.

And if you're watching on City TV or the live stream online and you'd like to dial in to speak, please call 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 160-229-4290 pound.

Chair.

Thank you, Sarah.

Please introduce yourselves for the record.

Uh let us know how much time you'd like for your presentation and feel free to be good when you're ready.

Thank you very much.

Um good afternoon, Chair Whipurne.

I'm Juan Goro, uh, Public Utilities Director, and joining me today is um Kelly Bailo, Deputy Director for the Public Utilities Department, and Tiffany Kirk, Assistant Deputy Director of the Public Utilities Department.

And we should need about 10 minutes for our presentation.

So good afternoon, Chair Whitburn, committee members.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on the City of San Diego's Dam Safety Program.

Today's presentation will walk through the condition of our dams and water tanks, the programmatic approach we're using in close coordination with our regulator, as well as the significant progress we've made over the past year to address both immediate safety needs and long-term system resilience.

As you'll see, dam safety is not a single project or timeline.

It's a sustained parallel effort to protect public safety while planning and delivering on long-term investments required to responsibly manage some of the oldest infrastructure in California.

Dams and water tanks are essential infrastructure for the city's drinking water system as they store and deliver water to treatment plants, provide emergency reserves during disasters, and manage flood risks.

The city's public utilities department's dam safety program oversees 11 dams and two potable water tanks, which all fall under the regulatory jurisdiction of the Department of Water Resources Division of Safety of Dams, often referred to as DSOD.

To the right, you can see some of the different types of water infrastructure that the team manages.

To supply our communities with drinking water, PUD has a comprehensive water management strategy that includes reservoirs, dams, and water tanks.

Reservoirs are an integral part of this operation, collecting and storing local runoff from a watershed that covers more than 900 square miles across the San Diego region as seen on this map.

Dams are particularly crucial as they act as barriers, creating reservoirs that collect and store large volumes of water.

Alongside dams, the water tanks play a vital role in our water supply by providing storage capacity, maintaining water pressure throughout the network, and ensuring that treated drinking water remains readily available for distribution during peak usage times and emergency situations.

Our reservoirs, dams, and water tanks are connected through a network of pipelines, channels, and pump stations, which facilitate the movement of water to drinking water treatment plants and to our approximately 1.4 million customers.

The water from our reservoirs on average make up roughly 10 to 15% of the city's drinking water supply, and we've been able to increase that to 30% over the past years as a result of receiving additional rainfall and maximizing our operations.

As a reminder, the water we collect in these rev reservoirs costs us roughly $400 per acre foot compared to the water we purchased from our wholesaler, the San Diego County Water Authority that costs over $2,600 per acre foot.

Kelly.

Thank you, Juan.

This timeline display is when the city's dams and water tanks were constructed and their current condition rating by the Division of Safety of Dams.

The city's water tanks were built in 1964 and 2003 and are in satisfactory condition.

Our dams have an average age of 93 years, significantly higher than state and national averages.

Six of our dams are rated as being in fair, poor, or unsatisfactory condition, as highlighted in yellow, orange, and red.

We are prioritizing these six dams for immediate assessment and action to ensure they continue to serve our city safely and efficiently.

DSOD has mandated water level height restrictions on five of those six reservoirs as a strategic response to reduce potential downstream impacts.

These restrictions serve as a precaution to help ensure safety and will remain in place until necessary repairs and improvements are completed to safeguard against potential emergencies.

Emergencies.

What this slide depicts is the reality of our work today.

Dam safety is no longer sequential or purely linear.

It requires proactive, sustained parallel efforts where continuous assessments, inspections, maintenance, and repair projects to protect public safety now, while we continuously plan and deliver a long-term risk-based capital program that will fundamentally reshape our dam system through rehabilitation, replacement, or removal over the coming decades.

Part of this effort included establishing a dedicated team in 2020 that now consists of over 110 team members focusing on projects that address critical deficiencies, including seismic stability, overtopping, concrete deterioration, and erosion.

Last year alone, the program oversight team grew from eight to 20 full-time staff with expertise expertise in both engineering and environmental science.

Our operations expanded from four to six dedicated crews, and we doubled our equipment resources to deliver more work in-house at our dams.

In parallel, the program prioritizes ongoing dam safety training to strengthen skills and maintain institutional knowledge.

The dam safety program also requires specialized third-party expertise due to the complexity and long-term nature of projects involved.

All of these resourcing efforts enable PUD to meet increasingly complex and evolving dam safety requirements while also demonstrating compliance with DSOD regulations.

Without proper resourcing, PUD would not be in a position to proactively manage risk as opposed to reacting to findings from our regulator.

We have adopted a nationally recognized dam safety standard, integrating strategic planning with comprehensive program management to address both safety and operational challenges.

This approach relies on a risk-based analysis to support informed decision making related to structural safety, risk mitigation, and prioritization across our dam portfolio.

Using this framework, we've identified a preliminary scope of work across our portfolio, including performing approximately 400 routine maintenance and inspection activities each year, completing 159 condition assessments to evaluate facility condition and identify near-term, in-term, and long-term risk reduction measures, designing and constructing 27 repair projects, as well as long-term improvements for Murray, Murena, and Hodges Dam over the coming decades.

We currently estimate that approximately $3 billion will be needed over the coming decades to complete all improvements to ensure the safety and reliability of our dams in the long run.

In 2024, City Council approved a 10-year as needed program management contract to strengthen city staff capacity and support the delivery of our growing dam safety program.

We appreciate City Council's support of this contract, which helps ensure long-term safety and reliability of the city's water system.

Over the past year, staff have focused on establishing the program's baseline by advancing the development of the program's long-term mission, objectives, and goals, a project prioritization and phasing approach focused on the highest safety risks, a dam safety specific project management framework to support on-time, on budget delivery and regulatory compliance, a master program schedule and budget forecast to track progress and costs, updated maintenance plans and standard operating procedures, and surveillance and monitoring plans to strengthen safety oversight and emergency preparedness.

Understanding the condition of our dams and water tanks is critical to identifying safety concerns, confirming how structures will perform during extreme weather and seismic events, and guiding risk-based decisions on maintenance, repair, and long-term investments.

We are making significant progress in completing assessments for our highest risk and poorest condition dams.

To date, 62 assessments have been completed, with an additional 13 currently in progress and the remaining assessments planned through the year 2032.

Shown here are helicopter-supported geotechnical drilling and investigations completed last year at Lower Otie Dam and Barrett Dam.

Helicopter access is required due to the steep terrain, limited road access, and environmental constraints, allowing crews to safely and efficiently collect subsurface data while minimizing the site disturbance.

These investigations provide critical information on foundation conditions, help confirm future design assumptions, and support evaluations of whether the dams can meet modern dam safety standards.

Long-term planning is ongoing at multiple sites as well.

But consistent with the parallel nature of the program dam safety approach described earlier, this slide focuses the focus work on Murray Dam over the past year, advancing near-term safety and compliance while continuing to progress towards long-term risk-based improvements approved by our regulator.

Completing DSOD required condition assessments allows us to evaluate changing conditions, identify a range of risk reduction options, and decide on the best short and long-term plans for implementation over the coming decades.

This comprehensive planning approach is nearing completion for Murray Dam and Reservoir, which supplies up to 55% of the city's local water and is a critical component of our water system.

Shown here are key elements of this work, including evaluations of structural reinforcement at the spillway and outlet tower, and divers preparing for underwater inspections of the outlet tower to assess condition and stability during an earthquake.

These findings from these assessments inform Murray Dam's overall risk profile and guide the development and evaluation of long-term improvement plans through collaborative workshops and breakout sessions.

Long-term dam safety improvement plans must be informed by how the water system is used today and how much water will be needed for the future of our customers.

This information is essential to determining which dams are needed to meet long-term customer demands, considering both the physical condition of each facility and its role within the broader water system.

Staff are actively modeling the water system to evaluate future supply demands, storage capacity, and overall system reliability.

These results will help identify which reservoirs and dams are most critical to achieving PUD's long-term water management strategy, including the goal of increasing local water use by to 60% by the year 2040, and ensuring dam safety investments are aligned with system needs to avoid stranded costs and direct limited resources to the highest value infrastructure investments.

While we continue advancing long-term planning, near-term repairs and maintenance projects are needed.

Over the past year, we completed targeted repairs to address known deficiencies.

This work manages immediate risk while long-term solutions are being developed.

This work included clearing the lower portion of the spillway at El Capitan Dam to restore hydraulic capacity, completing vault and valve improvements at Miramar Dam to improve reservoir operability and reliability, and repairing handrails at Barrett and Lower Otie dams to support crew access for inspections and maintenance.

Looking ahead, there are 14 repair and rehabilitation projects currently in design that include monitor upgrades to monitoring systems, repairs to concrete, improving outlet works, removing vegetation, and strengthening security.

Four additional projects are in planning to address intake restorations and emergency drawdown requirements, and construction on five projects focus on addressing localized concrete deterioration, improving crew access, restoring control of reservoir releases, and reducing the risk of service interruptions will begin this calendar year.

Our operations team actively manages reservoir levels to stay below DSOD mandated thresholds and has made important system improvements, including faster reporting of field issues, real-time monitoring of raw water reservoirs through the one-rain system, and the first ever use of high-resolution LIDAR at El Capitan and Morena Dams to support ongoing monitoring of movement and surface changes.

As always, we are working to balance critical infrastructure needs with affordability for our ratepayers.

Program funding comes from the Water Utility Capital Improvement Program and the Water Operating Funds.

And as future costs are refined, they will be reflected in PUD's annual five-year financial outlook, which informs the city city's rate setting process.

We continue to proactively pursue state and federal funding opportunities to help reduce costs for ratepayers.

To date, 1.7 million dollars in state and federal funding has been secured for ongoing initiatives, including seismic stability analysis and geotechnical investigations at El Capitan, Barrett and Hodges Dams that are shown in the pictures.

In total, the city has applied for approximately $322 million in external funding, including $77 million in grant funding, and selection by the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers to submit a full application for 241 million dollars in low-cost loan financing for dam improvement projects through the year 2031.

Diffany.

Thank you, Kelly.

We know we cannot replace or upgrade all of our high-risk dams at the same time.

These projects are large, complex, take many years to plan, fund, design, and build.

Because of this, we used a phased risk-based approach.

Long-term improvements are prioritized and sequenced over time, while in-term repairs manage safety until permanent solutions can be delivered.

Council's prior approval of the as needed program management agreement allows us to assess dam conditions, set priorities, and plan this work in phases as shown on the left.

However, that agreement supports planning and assessments only.

It does not include the design or construction oversight services needed to implement repairs.

The next step is securing new as needed dam design service agreements so priority regulatory compliant dam safety projects can move from planning into design and construction, helping avoid emergency-driven actions and ensure steady, responsible progress.

Shown here are examples of upcoming dam safety projects at Murray, Sutherland, and Lower O Tide Dams that require design work before they can move forward.

While long-term improvements are being implemented, a process that can take decades, in term projects are needed to manage identified risks and maintain regulatory compliance.

These include seismic upgrades to Murray outlet tower and dam structure, intake and outlet improvements at Sutherland to allow more efficient reservoir drawdown during storms or emergencies, and concrete repairs at Lower Otai to maintain structural integrity and safe access for inspections and maintenance.

These projects range from smaller but critical repairs, costing approximately $18 million to major rehabilitation projects costing 40 to 80 million dollars.

From initial studies through design, environmental review, permitting, construction, and regulatory approval, individual dam safety projects can take seven to ten years or more to fully deliver.

That brings us to the action item before you for consideration today.

PUD is proposing two 10-year as-needed dam design service contracts, each in an amount not to exceed $75 million.

Highly skilled experts in dam design and engineering, environmental compliance, and construction support will complement our strong internal team.

The proposed contract duration and amounts are based on detailed engineering estimates and historical data, aligning with the extensive time frame needed for specialized dam repair and rehabilitation projects.

Long-term as needed design agreements ensure continuity of expertise, regulatory coordination, and timely delivery of required critical dam safety work.

The RFP selection process began in 2024.

Two firms, HDR and Stantec, were selected as the preferred providers following a qualification-based evaluation.

Both firms would work on a rotating task order basis, ensuring fairness and consistent access to dam design expertise.

The proposed agreements with HDR and Stantec are designed to support city staff in delivering dam safety projects to the highest standard while safeguarding public health and safety.

The agreements provide dam engineering analysis, design development, permitting and regulatory coordination, environmental planning, and construction phase engineering support.

The consultants will also support the steady delivery of maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation projects for spillways, outlets, and dam structures identified through condition assessments, inspections, and long-range water supply and demand planning efforts.

PUD is requesting your approval of two 10-year as-needed dam design services agreements with HDR and Stantec, each in an amount not to exceed $55 million.

Funded through the water utility CIP and operating fund and included within both the recently approved water rates and PUD's five-year outlook.

Each agreement would carry a minimum spend of $1,000.

These agreements are essential for delivering critical dam safety projects, ensuring that our dams and water tanks remain safe, reliable, and compliant with DSOD requirements while continuing to meet community needs for decades to come.

Importantly, these are as needed agreements.

There is no obligation to use the full contract amount, and work is authorized only through individual task orders, even if the full value were utilized over the 10-year term, it would equate to approximately $7.5 million per contract per year, providing long-term flexibility rather than a single upfront commitment.

Your support for the ordinances requested today for approval of the two as needed dam design service agreements will help us continue to safeguard our water infrastructure, protect the public, and enhance the resilience and sustainability of our water supply system.

We thank you for your consideration.

That concludes our presentation, and we are available to answer questions.

Thank you for the presentation.

Thank you, Chair.

Yes, we have one hand up in the virtual queue.

The public comment period for items both 10 and 9 is open.

Each speaker will have a total of two minutes to speak to the items.

I'll begin the five-minute timer and we will begin testimony with Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and provide your comments for items nine and ten.

All right, thank you.

Uh Blair Beekman.

Uh thank you for this item.

Um I suppose first very much of a thank you uh for uh comment from councilperson Foster and Von Wilburn on the previous item.

It was nice that uh I had some thoughts that I didn't know how to put into words that council person foster very nicely uh asked questions in the previous item.

Thank you immensely.

For this item, um, good that you're preparing for dam issues.

These dam issues do come up uh from time to time, and actually it seems you're being a bit more comprehensive this time.

Thank you.

Um it's nice to see.

I didn't know that there's dams around what's considered the El Cabatan area that um I you know I always enjoyed that area of of eastern San Diego, and um I I referred to it as the Semity Valley myself many times without knowing it was called El Capi Town before.

Now I know, and uh I think it's beautiful in that area.

Um the rock formations are just uh amazing.

It they're very geometrical, it's very nice to look at.

So um thank you uh for this item, the work you're doing, and um that's about it.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony and chair.

There are no other hands in the queue.

So this concludes comment for both items nine and ten.

Thank you, Sarah.

All right.

Uh for the committee, we're gonna take up uh items nine and ten uh individually.

We'll start with the informational item, which was item number 10, uh the dam safety program annual update.

We'll see if there are any uh comments on this informational item.

It will not require a motion.

Uh after that, we will move to item nine, which is the action item, which is the award of the design services contract.

So we'll begin our conversation with Councilmember von Wilbert.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you for the the presentation and the work on our dams program.

Um my community is of course quite concerned about uh Lake Hodges, which I think the state of California is also quite concerned about Lake Hodges.

Um, you know, when I grew up here in San Diego, used to drive over the 15th freeway up toward North County Fair and the Wild Animal Park, and you could see water on both sides of the of the freeway.

And I don't think we've seen that in a very long time.

Um and I I do understand it's the state of California's decision, not our local government, to require us to lower the water level at Lake Hodges uh due to its unsat unsatisfactory rating.

Um, I'm hearing a lot of concern from my community about the downstream effects of that, including the brush just exploding.

And with wildfire season being year-round, I have a lot of folks asking me if it's actually making the community more unsafe.

The damage from a potential flood if the dam were to break might be less than the actual damage of a fire ripping through there and burning.

And they've already lost their houses.

This is where the Witch Creek fire was.

So most of these people who are concerned already went through the trauma of watching their house burn down the ground once.

And so um I've been hearing a lot of concern about that.

I wrote a letter on July 28, 2025 to Secretary Wade Crowdfoot up in Sacramento, the California Natural Resources Agency requesting that the department or DSOD, the division of safety of dams, uh, reevaluate whether or not we have to keep the water level as low as we are at 280 in light of the fact that it is now creating a fire danger.

And so have we heard anything back from the Department of Dam Safety about this new equation with fire safety?

Um no, we did have a meeting with DSOD not too long ago, uh, a few weeks ago, actually, earlier this month, and um they're aware of the community's concerns.

I think it's a it's a challenge for them to evaluate downstream safety and upstream safety when they're the responsibility is really over the condition of the dam.

One of the things we really shared with some of the community members that we talked to was it's uh Hodges is the only dam in the entire state of California that's rated as unsatisfactory, um, not only due to its age, but also its specific condition.

Um when DSOD were on site and they um inspected the dam, that's when they discovered the holes that were in the dam.

Um so there are really specific concerns to the dam's um condition and its safety, but I do know that that um those uh constituents are trying to get a hold of of the uh the people over at DSOD to have that conversation and see what they can do and what they can evaluate to try to balance risk on both sides, both sides of the dam.

Yeah, because I mean if we have to send our own fire department out, then the city is also incurring costs.

Uh and our assembly member Darn Shipatel received or secured 1.2 million dollars just to do brush management in this area because it's gotten so bad, and so I just my my residents are not clear why we can't raise the water level.

I don't think anyone's expressed to them if this dam falling apart is about to fall apart, everyone sees the dam is fine, and yet their houses are at risk of being burned down.

And so just I don't know what to do because they're all asking me these questions, and I'm clear I'm not an engineer.

I will say that at the 280-foot elevation level, Hodges Reservoir, the actual water that's available in the reservoir is still accessible to the fire department to be able to utilize that to suppress fires if they do happen along the shoreline where a lot of that brush um is now exposed is um protected wetland under local uh state and federal regulations, so it is limited.

But to your point, um assemblymember Patel did secure 1.5 million dollars, um, which is a huge uh help to be able to mitigate some of that risk.

$800,000 of that was secured for the removal of invasive invasive species in that um San Pascual Valley area, and it and the additional six hundred thousand dollars is going to the fire department to help with uh brush management.

So that should be that should be helpful with managing risk.

You're right, this year it is helpful and we're grateful for it.

Um but what about next year?

I just is there any effort we can do to raise the water level so that it doesn't happen every year?

Because my understanding is that we're no longer pursuing replacing this dam because uh the California or the county water authority here in CDO County has made a determination that they no longer feel they have to pay anything towards replacement dam.

Is that still the case?

Yes.

And they were gonna pay what half of it?

Half, yes, 50 percent.

Okay.

Um I'm not on the county water authority, and I know that they asked our city members to excuse themselves from that decision because we're conflicted.

So um if we're not going to be moving ahead with a new dam, my question is is any of this money that we're about to appropriate, the 150 million gonna go towards alleviating the conditions at the currently caught is so that we can raise the water level so we don't have this brush management problem every year.

I think one of the key points is um at this point, because of the dam being unsatisfactory, um DSODs requiring that we complete an interim risk reduction measure um with construction starting in 2029.

Um so we do have a lot of work to do that's really timely.

One of the biggest risks that we have if we um aren't able to execute on the contract and get the support that we need to design this interim risk reduction measure is DSOD could um see that as an additional risk and impose fines and potentially further um further level restrictions up to possibly fully draining the reservoir.

So it's important that in order for us to address DSOD's the dam safety concerns in general, we really need to execute this contract to be able to focus on that work, and then once we execute the interim risk reduction measure, that will allow us more time to evaluate to complete our evaluation of the future of Hodges essentially.

You know, we do have um through that analysis, we're looking at our responsibilities to public safety in addition to our responsibilities to make sure that we're using ratepayer funds appropriately.

Um that analysis is underway.

The alternatives analysis is underway and expected to be completed um towards the end of 2026.

Got it.

So my residents were telling me they thought it was gonna be summertime 2026, but now we think it's later.

Yes.

And will that be something that we can share with the public to explain to them what the options are with the dam?

As we know more, um, we would be happy to communicate that.

Okay.

Um got it.

Well, I'm still very concerned that the Department of Dam Safety is likely doing its job to think about the damage that water could do to people, but no one is thinking about the damage that fire could do to people.

And so maybe they have to work with Calfire or the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, but it it's very hard for me to tell my residents who've watched their homes burn to their foundation once before that we're doing everything we can to keep them safe.

And is it not your fault at PUD?

But I just don't know what to do because I think we're stuck with this jurisdictional quagmire and this agency in Sacramento that doesn't seem to want to answer our questions.

So council member I'll uh Alexander Brent, our deputy director of public utilities department.

I think it's important to note part of what DSOD is keeping in mind is work that the the city had done with engineering expertise as well and performing a uh consequence analysis of risk at various heights of the water in the reservoir to downstream communities.

And what we do confidently know, and part of the decision that has been made by the regulator and that we are implementing as the city is minimum mitigating risk to downstream communities to prevent loss of life.

We do know that at higher water levels, there is a significantly increased threat to loss of life downstream, and that loss of life extends all the way through I-5, right?

Uh downstream from Hodges Dam.

Um in terms of wildfire risk, I know we are joined by assistant chief Eddie, and and so I'm I don't know if um he can help speak to um the the wildfire risk, but as Juan mentioned at the 280-foot restricted level, we as we understand they still have the capability to combat wildfires with the water in the reservoir, and that is that the safest level currently to operate at to mitigate that risk to downstream communities.

Okay, just at the expense of maybe my community burning first.

It's this is literally what I'm hearing from my residents.

So um I understand that DOD doesn't maybe care about fire, but um at this point I don't think I can support this because I don't understand how I can tell my community we're funding something that isn't gonna make them safer if we don't get some answers from the Department of Dam Safety.

So I appreciate you could thank you, Chair, for the time, but I can't go to my community and tell them that this is a good idea when I haven't been assured that we're doing everything we can to raise the water level.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Ved Wilbert.

Um seeing no other comments other than those from Councilmember Foster will go to Councilmember Foster.

Thank you, Chair.

I was trying to gather my thoughts.

Um, and thank you, staff for their presentation.

Um I guess um I appreciate my colleagues' um questions.

Um hopefully she'll get it answered that she can convey to our constituents uh might want to look at doing a fact sheet or something simply to kind of let folks know what's going on.

Um, but um I guess I'm a little lost as I look at just the process and the ask um in regards to the as needed um contracts.

I think when you look at the actions associated with the item if I can pull it up really quick here, it says an ordinance approving, entering into an agreement with HDR engineering uh for as needed dam services in an amount not to exceed 75 million over 10 years, and then it ends with N-related funding actions.

What does that mean?

What are we approving?

Because everything I see it's on the EO sheet, it's an as needed contract.

I'm very familiar with the task order process, but what does that language actually mean that if we were to approve this today?

What are we giving up?

Places like executive assistant director for public utilities, and so associated funding actions is that because this contract will go over 10 years, um, each year as the budget is adopted, that is the appropriations that will allow us to expend the monies.

We can't just spend future monies right now.

We have to take action every year with the adoption of the budget.

So that's what the associated funding discussion is in the ordinary in the language that is on the staff report.

Okay, and I guess my next question would be as I look at this, and it looks like we're guaranteeing a thousand dollars per contract.

As I look at the list of subcontractor participation, they're quite extensive on both sides, but everything does say TBD, which for me indicates there's no true commitment on anything or or attempt to commit, and when I look at the goals, it says TBD.

So can you walk me through the process so I can better understand what we are accomplishing and as you go down this road?

And as you go down this road, I I just want you to know I look at this as we are authorizing 150,000 dollars as a blank track, and you go back, figure out how you're going to spend it, and I'm kind of at a dis I I feel like there's things that are going to happen that are not going to come back here if certain things are problematic.

So the reason why all of those are TBD is the participation rate is determined at the task order level, not at the contract level.

So that was a recent change in our contract structure.

So as we develop the scope of work in each task order, we then work with EOC to determine the percentage and go from there before we uh authorize the work on each task order.

And we have Christian Silva available to answer any questions he's on Zoom if you would like more details.

Well, I guess why don't you explain to me that change you you you said change in contract process or or method?

So what's the change?

Why is it why is there a change?

So the old contract requirement, the percentage was set at the contract level.

So for each task order, you could go up and down with your participation percentage to for an average overall goal accomplishment for the overall contract.

The change is that we're now doing it at the task order level.

It's a mandatory goal at each task order stage.

And that makes sense because the scope is known at the task order phase.

So it's really hard to bring in the specialized subs until you know what work you're doing.

So at the time that you develop your scope of work at task order issuance, it helps us bring on additional subs, the specialized small companies.

So let me ask so let me let me see if you can level set this for me.

We have enough information to establish a contract capacity value of 75 million, right?

We go through what I think is a very extensive process with the respective agencies to understand condition of dams, right?

Specifically, even if we talk about Hodges, right?

So I would think that we have an understanding of work that is needed.

It also appeared from the presentation that you are analyzing very specific, I'm gonna call it structural defects or impacts as you are analyzing cracking and so forth.

And um, so I feel as if there's information available in order to establish to where this is meeting an operational need, but I am not seeing I I'm not seeing any type of certainty in regards to um one R approach and what our outcomes will be.

And I say that because if we are doing this on a task-by-task basis, how are you going to manage the end result?

And am I to understand that there's we're going to go through 75 150 million dollars of capacity and have zero participation by a subcontractor?

Or what does that look like?

So city attorney's office might be able to help uh answer some of your questions on the contract structure, but these are mandatory goals set at the task order level.

Uh so our expectation is that we will meet or exceed these goals at the task order level.

If we wanted to use our existing as needed contract with GEI as an example, we have exceeded the subcontractor participation goals as a whole for that contract as an example of work that uses a very similar structure.

And I don't know if city attorney's office wants to weigh in on the policy shift from the contract subcontractor participation to the task order change that happened.

Uh Chief Deputy City Attorney Christina Ray, the actual shift to look at the task kind of coincided with the change with the municipal code to make consultants have mandatory participation.

And so to really calculate how much participation they should have, we have to look at the task order to see what the scope of the work is.

Because they're as needed.

We don't know that that we they will be awarded the full amount.

So if we set it off the full amount, we we may fall short, but we don't actually award the full amount, so it's also a fairness issue to those consultants.

I know they did identify SLBE and ELBE firms in their packet, so they are committed to use those, and our contracts do require if they want to use someone else, they have to request our permission to do that.

So we do have some assurance that they will use who they who they've listed.

As for the $1,000, that's our minimum consideration.

So we don't actually have to award them anything if for some reason it doesn't pan out.

We just have to give them the thousand dollar consideration.

We could terminate the contract.

So I guess two things.

One, am I to understand that the contractors that are listed have their protections of public contract code in regards to substitutions?

They have the protections listed in the contract, which is the same.

I don't know what that means.

Well we follow, we follow, at least I thought we did.

We follow the public contract code procedures when it comes to substitutions, right?

So I think that answers the question.

If someone's not listed on here, and there's a new contractor, they have to come to the city for permission and explain why one of these other contractors could not do the work, right?

So these and that's where I say they I'm asking the question.

These contractors are protected under public contract code.

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

And then can you help me to understand at the task level when we go to establish goals?

What program or what goal are we following?

It looks like there's several funding sources.

I don't know where the dollars are coming from at this point in time, but if I ever hear low interest rate loans, typically it means it's coming through another agency or another bucket of money.

So what does that mean?

What are we to understand today if we if this is approved?

So uh as communicated, we do are working with the federal government in regards to familiarity with um with you.

They have created a CWIF program, and I'm sorry, they wrote it up on the slide, and I just remember the acronym.

Um, and so that's that low interest that we are looking at.

Um that's one of the reasons why we don't award the full amount, because if we don't get some of these funding sources, we always have to look at how to best meet the needs of the system in regards to the dam safety, and then with what funds we have available.

But we are looking, we've been identified and we've been working with the CWIF program, and that's the most amount of money that we have identified.

That's our number one.

Um, and then at the state level, we are looking at all options available to us.

I can appreciate that, but I didn't hear what program you will be establishing those goals as we move to a task order level.

Are we able able to have Christian Silva?

He's on Zoom answer the process for how the goals are set at the task order level.

Christian, are you on Zoom?

Yes, uh good afternoon.

Sorry, I was having trouble in my uh Chris Silver program manager with the e-copportunity contracting program.

Um so at the time at the task level, um, the department will establish what the scope of work is.

Um they will look at the different um next codes for that specific scope of work, uh, which will be based off the availability of SLB ELB firms that we have in the program, and based off the dollar value, it'll compile a um a goal.

Um now if there is a different funding source, um we will follow those requirements, such as any WIFIA or EPA funding.

Um those requirements will supersede the cities what funding requirements come what what what are the requirements for Wi FIA?

The WIFIA requirements at the moment.

Um they've suspended the DBE program.

Um so at the moment uh there is no requirements, however, the city does have our aspirational minority and women-owned business.

Um so yeah, and then there are some uh federal agencies that do require good faith effort documentations and others that have um suspended that.

So it'll kind of be on a case by case as that that's kind of moving at the moment.

Is there anything that precludes us from applying the SLBE program if we cannot do this as a race and gender conscious type program?

Yes, that's a good question.

That is something that we've been discussing.

We haven't gotten any concrete answers whether we're able to do that at the moment.

We are not implementing that in order to not jeopardize any reimbursement or any of the provisions through those those funding agencies, but it is something we're actively working on to see if that's something we can implement.

Um so we can at least utilize our SLPE program.

Okay, this is the more questions I ask the more I'm actually moving to a no in regards to the contracts.

Um is there anything else you would like to offer, Mr.

Silva?

And and I see that the two contractors, which I'm gonna say are part of our standard contracting pool, I guess I'll say.

Um, but as you look at their internal workforce, there are underrepresentations.

Um I think HDR it says after underrepresentations African American, Latino and Female Management and Fincial, Asian, female and professional and female and technical.

It does say that you guys did do an analysis.

It says it looks like there was an increase in full-time employees.

They're still on what does that mean?

Is that one?

And we're saying, oh, hey, you're good, or what what type of standards are we applying to this?

Yeah, so it depends.

Um there are there's different scenarios when we're doing an evaluation, it would consider of how many, what is the improvement?

Um, was there any additional hiring, or was there a reduction in staff?

Um, so it kind of just varies um as we're looking at the different ums.

Um in this case, I don't have uh the number exactly, I can provide that to you in a later date.

Um, but yeah, it looked like there was uh some some tour some sort of effort towards um mitigating the uh underrepresentation.

So staff felt at the time that um any audits or anything further would not be warranted at this time.

Okay.

Um I guess just from my final question, can you help me to understand what your authority is in regards to awarding of these contracts?

If you see that there is a deficiency, what type of authority do you have?

Uh we would not if we find that there's a violation in the MUNICOD for EEO or any sort of uh subcontracting violation, uh, we would recommend to either not um we wouldn't sign off on it or to not award I apologize, but you use the term recommend.

Recommend to me does not indicate authority to deny, reject or withhold.

Correct.

I understand I'm asking the question because we're being asked to sign off on a 10-year contract with a capacity of 150 million dollars.

I'm sitting in front of the department asset owning department, who for every question that I'm asking, they are pitching it to you.

And do you have the proper authority to look the director and to look at the director and say I am denying this contract because it does not meet the appropriate standards or task?

We would work in uh in collaboration with the department, but to answer uh we do not have the ultimate authority, but we do have uh a working collaboration where um I would describe if there was any deficiencies or discrepancies, um, and the department uh would then make the choice.

Okay, thank you for that transparency.

Um with that um, Chair.

Um I'm sorry, you look like you would like to add something.

Yes.

Um, if you if you're interested, we do have a representative from one of our consultants.

If uh that would be helpful, they can be okay.

I'm very familiar with the firms.

Thank you.

Um chair, um, that will conclude my um comments at this time.

Um, unfortunately, I'm not going to support this at this.

Well, well, you you know what?

Let's do this.

I'm going to support this moving to council, okay.

But I think there's some more things that you guys need to come back to me with that I like to get some answers on to see if we can kind of shore up this process and and just have some better understanding as this is moving forward.

Um, I understand this is a very important item.

I understand the deficiencies with the dams, but also I want to make sure, um, and I'll, you know, Randy, this is really um to the mayor's office and also to the DCO, that again, this is where you hear me comment and say, right?

We need to understand, and our directors need to know their book of business and to put their best foot forward as we are talking about expending taxpayer dollars.

And so I want to make sure that we are putting our best foot forward and that we are not seeing any vigancies, cost overruns, all those types of things.

So I'm gonna be looking for some um feedback as this is continuing on to council, um, and we can have some additional conversation.

Fair enough.

Fair enough.

Uh thank you, and Chris McFadden, chief infrastructure officer, heard loud and clear.

We'll have those details for you as well.

Councilmember Von Wolper, more of our interactions with fire department, and have that so you can share all of that information with your constituents if you consider moving this forward, we'll have that for both of you well in advance.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Um please.

Sorry.

I apologize.

I was trying to get up here earlier, and my old knee caught me trying to catch up to you.

I'm sorry.

I just want to address your issues with the fire on it with that area of Hodges, and that is on our forefront for sure is the fire department.

Um, the $600,000 from Patel that we have got to start those mitigation efforts are completely gonna start us in the right direction.

I say that's a quick stop for us to do so as we make it through this fire season, as PUD is saying right now that they're gonna assess the dam and see what they can do with the future.

That 600,000 in mitigation and the other 800,000 that will be for evasive plants will help us stop that process or start basically.

Our CRR division is doing a great job too in ensuring that they're working on more grants and areas in that to draw more of that um brush out of that area.

But I can tell you at the same time, we're ready.

If anything occurs, we'll take care of it.

And there's plenty of water currently there, right?

Juan was saying there, in there for us to pull from with our air fleet that we have.

Um, but at this time we're working hand in hand with PUD to ensure that we're on top of those things.

Do you have any other questions or any concerns?

We've been and I've actually talked to the group that you've talked to to multiple times on it.

So um, but if you have more questions, please let me know.

Okay.

No, and thank you.

I mean, please continue.

Part of the problem is I I can get as many fact sheets as I want, but then they ask me questions.

Yeah.

Well, have the have the engineers considered this.

Have they considered our loss of life versus potential loss of life?

And so I can't really be the messenger here because I am not a dam engineer nor a fire expert.

And so what I need is help communicating, but I am the local government official, so where do people come?

They come to our office.

We want to help them.

And so I need more than a fact sheet.

I need people to actually answer their questions about all of this.

And they are highly engaged residents, as you know many of them.

Absolutely.

Multiple conversations, absolutely.

Yes.

Yeah.

So but but we are working hand in hand, and Juan's been great with me.

We've had multiple meetings with them too on some of the some of the consensus, not all of them, of course, but um some of the main ones that have brought up their concerns, and it's something as the fire department that we're engaged with with them at the same time.

Okay.

Also, um, Chief, you know the the new dip tank that's right outside the Safari Park property.

Yes.

Would it be helpful to have more of those around here?

I can tell I can tell you right now is the fire department.

Anytime we can have more water, if anything, a dip tank, it doesn't matter where it is, yes, I I would be down for it.

The farming bureau that's in between the San Pascual Valley has done a great job for us with setting those type of operations for us.

Yearly we go out there and train with them.

I I love it actually.

They have uh great milk they give us too, which is awesome.

So when we're out there, but um, but yeah, more dip tanks would help us.

The farmers have done it, the wild animal park has done it for us too.

But those are those are helpful resources.

If you've seen our helicopters in use, our helicopters will pull water out of the San Diego River, but only has three feet of water in it at a time and moving.

Um great pilots, great personnel that run those items.

So anywhere that we can pull water from, any more out there, we would absolutely take it.

Okay.

Um maybe that can be part of the long-term strategy here is if we're not gonna rebuild the dam because the county water authority doesn't want to help it pay for it.

Absolutely.

What is the new if this is the new reality for people with this brush overgrowth?

You know, huge lake has dropped by feet, and so there's more brush than we ever anticipate.

So if this is going to be the new reality, at least for a few years until we figure out how to fix the dam, yeah.

Maybe a more comprehensive fire strategy would be helpful.

I mean, right now we're okay this year with all the money we got from the state and the brush management, but and understand for your constituents too for us as the fire department, those are consistent things that we're looking at and analyzing.

It doesn't matter what Samska Valley, Otie Mountain, Mission Valley, any of those areas that are around there in between, we're consistently watching those with our CR division and our infrastructure to try to figure out what is our best options.

Okay.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Um let's keep just talking, especially as this goes to full council.

Um, I mean, honestly, having the dam restored would be great for our water too, because as you said, it's cheaper to get our own water than it is to buy water from the outside.

So it would be very nice to restore the dam site.

Okay, thank you very much.

Yeah, thank you, Councilmember von Wilpert.

Um we have sort of conflated items 10 and 9, um, which is which is fine.

Uh that is our right to conflate them.

Uh but before we officially uh uh get to a a vote on item nine.

Was there any other conversation?

Anything anybody wanted to say about item 10, which was the informational item on the dam safety program annual update.

Um most of our comments here have been focused on item nine, which is the award of these design services agreements.

Uh, and let's go to council member Lee.

Thank you.

I was gonna patiently wait till item nine.

Um th thank you for all the conversations and the concerns that have been brought up by my colleagues.

I I think I'll just start based on respect for um what we've understood from our colleagues now and and knowing how to move forward um with a motion to recommend uh with a motion to move this item to the full council without a recommendation.

I think just to understand that that uh I I heard you loud and clear, so we know where that is.

Um I I do want to ask, you know, 2024 we did initiate the 100 million dollar contract for um the analysis of uh needs relating to our dams.

Um that was over 10 years, it was as needed.

What's the progress that we've seen in terms of expenditures from that?

Because I see this as as really tearing off of that effort, right?

I mean we have funding we've we've allocated funding um for and the potential for contracts to do that analysis.

The next step would be to design it, and then eventually we still got to build it even after we do this phase.

Yeah, that's exactly right.

Um just generally speaking, that GEI contract was really set up to do the analysis, and through all those analysis that they're doing, we're learning a lot about what the actual needs are for our reservoirs.

We knew there were deficiencies, we knew what that there were needs, but we didn't know exactly what they were.

Now, because of the GEI analysis, we have more detail.

And then with these contracts, the design engineers will come in and actually start getting into the design through that process process will also learn more, and then you get into construction.

I don't know if the team has anything else they want to add to that, but generally speaking, that's that's uh how they support each other in this overall programmatic approach that we have to address our dam dam safety needs.

How much have we expended, for example, from the GE contract so thus far?

So last year um we were able to get sixteen million dollars off the ground worth of task order work with GEI.

Um that was primarily based on building the foundation of our program.

Um so that's where we were looking at our condition assessments of our dams, um, also to setting up budget tools and tracking systems as well as standard operating procedures for our operations and maintenance.

Um and so the work that we're doing with GEI does give us the ability to set the stage for how we prioritize and phase out our work and then absolutely council member the next phase is to then start delivering and delivering those projects through design and construction understood.

And one thing that really stuck out to me when you commented was that choosing not to move forward obviously would create another risk factor, uh, and that's just the reality that if this council doesn't have something in place to allow for the next stage of work to happen, then I can imagine that the Department of Safety of Dams is gonna look at it and say we're not gonna do any work at all.

Um and so to me, just I don't see an option to not move forward.

We've we've paid for the first um well, we've set up the capacity to do the analysis that we've needed.

Uh it's built into our water rate assumptions as I understand that.

Um, and if we do want to move forward with eventually having fixes, uh, whether they're short-term or long term, uh, we're gonna need to be able to begin making those moves now.

Um I know when in 2024 there was some discussion about whether that contract was even sufficient for the totality of the needs that we've got.

Um and so even for this uh request at the moment, the two contracts, I think it's still too early to really say whether that's gonna be sufficient over the 10-year period based on needs, but again, it's as needed, correct?

So as we get analysis were completed and we can begin having those priorities, then we can begin expending that for the next stage.

That's correct, yeah.

Okay.

I again I'm happy to uh make a motion to bring this to the full council without a recommendation.

Thank you, Councilmember Lee.

Um I will second that motion uh to move this forward to uh council without a recommendation.

I do have um a couple of the questions that um really sort of pick up on the light of questioning the council member Lee was asking in terms of the sequencing of all of this.

Uh the study uh that we began that is analyzing the current conditions and the future needs of the dams is ongoing.

There's gonna be an I think you said an alternatives analysis toward the end of this year.

There's also uh an interim risk reduction measure for the Lake Hodges Dam.

So how much is that gonna cost the interim measure for Lake Hodges?

Well, let me ask the overall question first, and you can answer it any way you want to.

I don't want to do this backwards.

I mean, I I want to the degree possible to understand, okay, what are the needs and maybe there's a universe in at one point um a year or two ago, there was some conversation about whether we needed all the dams that we have.

Um to the degree possible, I'd want to understand the answer to that question uh before we get into uh spending money on dams if we're not sure that we actually need them.

So there's a sequence there, and I want to understand how this fits into that sequencing.

Sure.

So we've identified the need for 159 condition assessments and technical studies to inform what the future repairs are that are needed at each one of our dams.

Could you speak into the microphone a little bit?

We've completed 62 of those.

Um those are ongoing.

At the same time, we've identified a handful of repair and maintenance projects that must be done while we're developing our long-term plans.

We expect to complete all of our assessments by the year 2032.

At the same time, we're doing our water modeling, which is looking at that the question you're asking, what is the water resource importance of each one of these reservoirs?

And we expect to have the results of that analysis later this year that will help inform our decisions moving forward.

Um, we cannot afford to do all of the repairs or the replacement or major rehabilitation of each one of our sites tomorrow.

We're gonna have to phase this work over time.

And so our vision is to pull together all of this information, develop our long-term plan around the year 2032.

We will have that long-term vision and our multi-decade capital phasing plan develops.

In the meantime, we do expect to implement to design and implement repair projects that enable us to keep using our reservoirs and utilizing our local water until we have our long-term plan developed.

Does the ongoing study that we are conducting, has it produced uh sufficient preliminary data to suggest that it is cost effective to invest in the interim repairs on the Lake Hodges Dam?

I think the interim risk reduction measures with Lake Hodges is a requirement, and we have to start construction by 2029 per coordination with the SOD.

But the the good thing about that interim risk reduction measure will give us more time to do the analysis on the long-term solution at Hodges to work through all the different variables that go into that, you know, not just focusing on downstream safety, but also the water supply benefit and the effective use of ratepayer funds.

Um that's a very difficult analysis to do, and obviously the the we wouldn't be able to start construction of the um of the long-term solution of Lake Hodges by 2029.

So we're really working with them to mitigate risk with this interim risk reduction measure.

And that'll give us time to look at all of our reservoirs and really figure out um where the best use of ratepayer funds can be invested.

How much is the interim risk reduction measure gonna cost at this time based on current alternatives?

It could range between 10 to 50 million.

Uh 10 to 15 or 50.

50 million.

10 to 50 million dollars.

Yes.

Okay.

Um we've decided to move forward with it.

So I guess you know, part of my question is we um are required to do this if we're gonna keep that dam.

Um and so you know, I would there seems to be a certain logic to making sure that we intend to keep that dam before we invest 10 to 50 million dollars in a in an interim fix.

Councilmember, if I could um part of what we were um trying to communicate in a previous slide on slide six, is that DSOD has mandated both interim risk reduction measures, so short-term uh solutions to some of the deficiencies we know we have at our facilities that they uh are responsible for overseeing, as well as developing further long-term plans, um, capital improvement uh improvements for those assets because again, some of this infrastructure is well over a hundred years old.

And so we do have timelines associated with both interim actions that need to be taken as well as long-term.

And so that's really that parallel nature of our comprehensive dam safety program that we're working on, and that is outlined here in this slide, right?

There's two tracks, and so that's what we're seeing happen at Lake Hodges and specifically when we're talking about the interim risk reduction.

We have a timeline where we have to take action in order to comply with the mandate from DSOD in order to ensure we're mitigating risk and managing that dam responsibly.

Um, additionally, because of the age and the deterioration of the concrete and the fact that it no longer meets the current seismic standards, we have to come up with per DSOD mandates as well, a long-term plan for that asset.

So that's the case at multiple dams, right?

We know that because of the age and the condition, there's certain steps that need to be taken in a more short-term perspective, but there's also going to be long-term work needed as well.

What what this item, what these design services will help with is taking some of that programmatic work that that we're uncovering and planning and allowing those projects to go through the design phase, which is a necessary step for us to maintain compliance within the time frame that DSOD has provided for us.

That's helpful.

So uh we've got um to do this long-term planning and analysis.

It's not going to happen this week.

It's gonna take some time to do it.

We've got to do it to know ultimately what the disposition of Lake Hodges ought to be.

Um and before we get there, um, we have to do these interim fixes in the meantime, just uh to ensure public safety and and and everything else.

Is that a layman's an accurate layman's description of the situation we're in?

That's correct.

All right.

Okay, so then it makes sense.

Um let me see if I had uh any other uh questions here.

Um so again on the sequencing, you know, we've got um some things coming at the end of the year.

Uh is it reasonable to want to wait until we get to the end of the year before approving these contracts to understand what these analyses and studies are telling us before we do this, or um alternatively, is this something that we need to approve now?

There's absolutely urgency in approving these now.

We do not have the contract capacity to advance some of these short-term measures into design, and without capacity right now, we jeopardize our ability to adhere to the timeline set forth by DSOD.

Okay, so we've got to do it now just to address some of the urgent things that are in front of us.

All right.

Um last question.

Obviously, there are going to be some decisions down the line about the disposition of our various dams.

Um, and that will take into account supply needs, it'll take into account safety, it'll take into account um costs, impact on ratepayers.

Uh what will be the participation of the city council in the decisions on the disposition of some of these.

I um I I wouldn't want to necessarily approve design contracts now, and then find out that that inherently means that we're going to be uh doing a lot of things that perhaps a study would say that there's reasons to reconsider.

So, what will be the council's participation in those ultimate decisions about the disposition of the dams?

We fully anticipate bringing additional information back and engaging with you all, particularly, I think from the public utilities perspective, we know that affordability is top of mind.

And so when we're looking at decisions and information that's coming back through the assessments and work being done to advance our dam safety program, we're also trying to ensure as Kelly mentioned, we have our um water portfolio assessment to ensure that we're getting the best bang for our ratepayer buck in terms of prioritizing uh investments, capital investments that make the most sense for our system and our ratepayers.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um I would request uh that as we start to make you know major policy decisions about the future disposition of our our dams that the council be um weighing in on those because some of those are public policy decisions we heard from councilmember von Wilpert about uh the impact of some of those decisions on her constituents from a safety perspective, recreational considerations, there's rate considerations, supply considerations, and everything else, and certainly I think that should be something that the council is weighing in on.

Okay.

Well, I'm prepared to, based on your um answers, which I appreciate.

I'm prepared to uh support this item and certainly support moving it to uh city council.

We have a motion from Councilmember Lee, uh, which I seconded to move this item forward to the city council without a recommendation.

And seeing no further discussion, uh, sir, please call the roll.

And that passes 3 1 with committee member von Wilbert voting no.

Okay.

Um let's move on then to item 11.

It is our final information item for today.

Sir, please introduce item 11.

Thank you, Chair.

Item number 11 is the annual transportation department update.

And if you're watching on City TV or the live stream online and you'd like to call into the meeting to provide comment, you can dial 1669-2545252 and input webinar ID 160294290 pound.

Thank you.

All right, uh, please uh introduce yourselves for the record.

Uh let us know how much time you would like for your presentations and feel free to begin whenever you're ready.

Good afternoon, Naomi Chavez, interim director for transportation department.

This is the annual transportation uh department update to ATI.

With me today is interim assistant director Maggie McCormick and uh members of the executive team from the Transportation Department.

So we appreciate the opportunity to share with you our annual update.

Uh we want to leave you today with three key takeaways.

First, critical work is happening.

The transportation department is squarely focused on core neighborhood services, new parking initiatives, and meeting the city's vision zero goals.

Second, our backlogs continue to grow.

Our crews are working at capacity, but baglock backlogs to core services continue to grow because we simply don't have the resources or the budget to provide the level of service where we are making progress.

Third, our department stands ready to deliver.

If additional staff and resources, such as increased overtime, are provided in the budget, it would help begin to right size the department and allow more neighborhood improvements each year.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of this fiscal year, we had to stop certain services due to limited overtime.

The same will happen in FY27 if nothing changes.

Without these additional resources, we continue to slip further and further behind with our service backlogs.

So we'll start by giving you a quick overview of our department.

We have over 500 hardworking dedicated employees who are responsible for some of our oldest and uh most used infrastructure.

So from streets to sidewalks and everything in the right of way, our department keeps the city moving forward.

Despite the budget challenges, our vision and mission remain the same to build, operate, and maintain a world-class network of transportation infrastructure to ensure all San Diegans can safely and effectively get to where they need to go.

So I want to take a moment to highlight some key accomplishments for FY25.

First off, I want to note that the transportation department delivered on all the CIP dollars available to our department that resulted in paving 400, excuse me, 543 miles citywide, surpassing our goal by over 20 percent.

This includes 24 miles by our mill and pay teams, the most ever paved in-house.

And I'd also like to point out that we take great care to ensure that we're addressing the need in communities of concern.

Uh we ensure that no neighborhoods get overlooked on currently paved 43% of the selected streets in communities of concern.

We completed over 1,200 locations for sidewalk CIP replacement, three times the previous high.

We planted over 4,000 trees, which is four times that we previously did in a typical year.

And to be clear, we had to cut our own tree planting budget.

So this progress is strictly due to settlement and grant funding.

Um if we don't have a budget, then there'll there will be zero trees planted in FY27.

We also took a critical step forward on our vision zero progress by completing a citywide citywide systemic safety analysis to identify potential traffic safety upgrades.

And once again, we handled over 100,000 service requests from the public.

We kept the momentum rolling this fiscal year with several new initiatives, including several parking initiatives and doing so with no additional staffing or resources, investing parking meter revenue from community parking districts in immediate neighborhood repairs, such as fixing street lights, potholes, and having a historic low backlog of potholes in the month of October with under 50 potholes.

This was really able to allow us to redirect crews to proactively patch potholes in areas with a history of underreporting via the get it done app.

We also increased our in-house CIP projects for sidewalk and mill and paved teams, such as in-house work.

That really is where we have most of our efficiencies.

Another huge step was to successfully move our city's traffic management center operations out of the basement of Cobb and into the Gibbs office complex.

The big lift for transportation this year has been implementing the various parking initiatives.

We delivered on these mandates without being provided any new resources.

However, we had to redirect staff away from traffic safety efforts to get this work completed.

We quickly implemented the special event zone in September with signage installed within a half a mile of Petco Park.

We anticipate collecting about 1.7 million dollars of revenue from special events alone this year.

We extended meter hours at over 4,000 locations citywide.

We proactively installed parking meters in select locations such as along Fifth Avenue in downtown, Sixth Avenue and Park Boulevard in Balboa Park and other areas.

And due to these changes, we're expecting to generate approximately $2 million that were not included in the adopted FY26 budget.

Our in-house crews are taking on the largest sidewalk program for CIP in our history.

This allowed us to free up 1.9 million dollars in our budget for citywide repairs.

In just three months, we've conducted nearly 2,000 repairs and we're still counting and making more progress in those districts.

This program helps reduce city liability and gets these fixes done faster.

And I do want to remind you all that this program expires on June 30th, and there is no funding identified for FY27.

We planted over 5,000 trees in calendar year 2025 thanks to the grant funding.

And lastly, we significantly improved our community outreach and communication to constituents and stakeholders.

One good example is our current partnership with the performance and analytics department and Camino Labs.

We'll be serving 10,000 residents about their awareness of the Get It Done app and their experiences with any road repairs and pothole maintenance services.

This is going to be conducted over the next few months, and the best part is that it's at no cost to the city.

Next, I'd like to share a closer look at the work being done in community parking districts.

The initial repairs focused on streetlight outages, as those fixes can be done relatively quickly.

So far, we've fixed nearly nearly 1,000 streetlights in the four districts, addressing roughly a third of the backlog in those areas.

In December, we expanded the work to include potholes in response to two consecutive rain events and have patched nearly 1,000 potholes since then.

Now we're starting the first sidewalk fixes, most notably at 7th and B in downtown and along University Avenue and Uptown.

And we'll continue to make these types of repairs in the coming months, but we will be adding select traffic safety improvements in these areas as well.

One of the things we're most proud of is the transformation of the transportation department over the last few years.

We've reorganized and we've restructured our department with a focus on our most valuable assets, which is our employees.

This begins with improve improving the safety and training opportunities for our employees.

We've launched equipment operator training in 2024, which resulted in promotional pathways for approximately 20 staff.

We have an in-house training series for supervisors to help them gain new skills and become better leaders.

We offer weekly toolbox talks to constantly provide supervisors with safety information for their crews.

We've implemented de-escalation training for field crews so that they can better handle interactions with the public and cross-departmental trainings with other departments as well.

And a great example of improved trainings is our OSHA 10 hazard recognition training.

OSHA 10 is a nationally certified training that employees can be certified for for their entire careers.

A couple of years ago, we only had 15 employees with this designation.

And thanks to the in-house training, we currently have 263 employees who have been certified for life.

And the best part of this program is that we get the same result as if we were to outsource it, but with a 95% reduction in cost since it's offered in-house.

We have also put an emphasis on recognizing the accomplishments of our employees through through our monthly director's report, photo contest, and our new going the extra mile peer-to-peer recognition award.

Altogether, these efforts have really helped reduce our vacancy rate.

We're at a low vacancy rate as well as 146 promotional hires within our department since 2023.

And we have done all of this work without a dedicated safety and training budget.

To show how far we've come, we want to share this snapshot comparing our department statistics from 2023 with today.

As I said, our vacancy rate has been significantly reduced by 64%.

This means that our employees are really happy, really enjoy transportation as a place to work.

We have increased our projected lane miles.

We have doubled the amount of paving done annually by our in-house crews.

We have planted nearly three times as many trees.

And we have increased our sidewalk slicing by 60%, which reduces liability with each of the locations that are being sliced.

Bottom line is that we've come a long way and we have improved our outputs despite the ongoing fiscal crisis that our city is facing.

While we continue to make our operations more efficient and effective, transportation still faces significant challenges to fulfill our mission.

Budget being the biggest challenge with the lack of resources.

We simply don't have enough staff or budget to make meaningful progress on our backlogs.

To give an example, last year our department spent 6.2 million in overtime spending, and this year's budget is only $2 million, which is not even enough to cover any emergencies or any priority one calls.

Backlogs are growing monthly for public and facing infrastructure, creating potential liabilities across the city.

As mentioned earlier, we've had to redirect staff away from core services to prioritize revenue generating parking initiatives.

And lastly, we've seen a significant increase in the cost of materials that are needed to complete our work.

Over the next few slides, I'd like to walk you through how lack of funding hinders progress by sharing where we're at with some of our core infrastructure services.

For street repair, we would need 248 million dollars in the FY27 budget to maintain a pavement condition index of 65.

To put that in perspective, the entire transportation budget this year is about half that amount at 124 million dollars.

On sidewalks, we would need 17 million dollars per year to address 37,000 locations over the next 14 years.

For street lights, we would need 10 million dollars to fix the nearly 7,000 outages citywide, and that does not include major fixes to our aging series circuits over the next decade, which would require an additional $8 million.

Continuing, we currently don't have any budget dedicated to maintaining bridges across our city.

We recently identified maintenance needs totaling 34.5 million dollars for 147 bridges.

This is what we'll be uh requesting an ongoing maintenance budget of 2 million dollars to start chipping away at this backlog and making repairs.

As you know, we have a climate action plan goal to reach 35% canopy.

As it stands right now, we will not be planting a single tree in the next fiscal year without dedicated funding.

The remaining grant funding that we received is to water and care for the trees that have been planted.

Vision Zero is another area where we need significantly more resources.

It would take an estimated 186 million dollars to implement the current needs list for traffic safety improvements.

Meanwhile, the backlog for traffic engineering evaluations continues to grow by over 2300 requests per year.

Much like streets, we know exactly where we need to get to work, but we have a fraction of the resources to do it.

Transportation has several key pressures that are impacting our current budget.

That's why we plan to ask for a mid-year budget add-on of 4.2 million dollars.

First, there are a lot of unbudgeted requests that we receive from city departments.

To name a few, we provide electrician support to DSD and ECP for traffic signal resets, lighting support for parks and recs and libraries, sidewalk repairs for libraries, and asphalt repairs for airports.

We also have event driven response costs, most notably the recent holiday storms that required crews to work during the Christmas Day and New Year's Day holidays.

Those events have huge impacts to our limited overtime budget.

As mentioned earlier, our overtime budget was cut by two thirds, even though we know that just between storms and emergencies, they will trigger significant overtime expenses in that area.

There are also unbudgeted compliance issues.

So, for example, the Cook's Crack Cave monitoring is required as part of a settlement agreement.

There are significant cost increases for contracts due to contract escalators that are written into the contracts, and we don't have the right budget.

And finally, we work out of the Choyas operations yard, and the parking lot delays have driven a lot of security costs that were unforeseen.

Another challenge is the current request to fill process.

The RTF process makes it difficult to hire replacements for departing or injured employees.

For example, we currently have five patch truck operators on industrial leave, which really impacts our nine pothole teams.

Understaffing will lead to increased service backlogs, particularly for road striping and mill and pave projects where we have key vacancies.

We also may not have enough staff to operate heavy vehicles.

We currently have four equipment operator twos vacant, and they're all within our mill and pave team, which might potentially impact our lane mileage.

And lastly, the RTF process negatively impacts employee morale.

We continue to ask our employees to do more with less, and at a certain point, it's demoralizing when there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Looking ahead for this fiscal year, we plan to publish the citywide speed management plan and provide council with an update on our vision zero progress.

In March, we will bring forward the master plan for our utilities undergrounding program.

In April, transportation will bring an update to the pavement management plan.

However, I would like to note that the timing of this may be impacted by the RTF process.

Our interim assistant director will be going out on leave soon, leaving a few key vacancies behind.

Finally, we'll round out the fiscal year with our budget presentation in May and then code and policy updates for our urban forestry teams in June.

Work continues on the largest in-house sidewalk CIP project ever.

We've taken on additional in-house CIP work for our mill and pave team.

In community parking districts, we'll continue with streetlight and pothole repairs and begin sidewalk repairs and traffic safety improvements.

We'll continue the build out of our new traffic management center.

We've moved all the technology over.

Next is equipping, making sure we have the office equipment for and cubicles for our staff.

We have a couple of notable sidewalk projects coming up in Scripps Park and Mountain View Park, and we'll continue expanding parking meters where appropriate across the city.

As we begin the FY27 budget deliberations, we want to remind you where the transportation department's focus will be.

We continue to operate at the highest capacity possible with the available staff and resources.

We know our next budget likely won't be able to reduce backlogs, but we believe funding critical infrastructure items can help triage the challenges in the short term.

And as stated many times today, we need significantly more investment to be able to deliver on essential services.

With that in mind, I'd like to give you an overview into transportation's budget request for FY27.

We are well aware that the city is still working its way through a budget crisis, and you are all facing difficult choices in the coming months.

However, unlikely it is that each of these requests will be funded.

We believe it is important to communicate with you what we need in order to make progress in certain areas as well as communicate potential risks and impacts to our backlogs.

First off, we'll need funding so we don't default on our APCD settlement agreement and a $10 million federal grant for tree maintenance.

Without this funding, we would lose nearly $4 million in matching grant revenue.

Second is $50,000 for the quiet zone recertification, which is an FRA requirement to prevent train noise downtown.

We're recommending a new quick build team to increase the implementation of traffic safety upgrades citywide.

As noted earlier, there is a huge backlog and need here.

We are requesting to add a new street light repair team to address the long list of street light outages citywide.

The current team of 18 electricians currently spends 100% of their time responding to dig alert underground utility requests.

Of course, the only way to address this backlog is through overtime.

And the second team would really guarantee that repairs are happening citywide.

In order to address the growing backlog for sidewalk repairs, we're asking for another team to increase the number of projects we can tackle each year.

Lastly, the industry standard is to assess your street network every four years.

So we're asking for one million dollars for a new pavement condition assessment.

Moving along, we'll be bringing the speed management plan to council soon, and it will require the printing and installation of approximately 3,000 signs citywide.

So in order to implement this work in a timely fashion, we would need to hire an outside vendor to be able to produce the signs and some dollars for our team to install these signs.

As you know, each year Circulate San Diego provides the city with a list of 15 intersections that they were like to see traffic safety improvements.

This work would this work would cost just over half a million dollars to implement.

And without this funding, those safety upgrades would not be completed.

An additional $50,000 is needed to continue traffic counts for the full fiscal year.

Our current funding level typically runs out three quarters through the fiscal year, and this was would ensure that we have continuity.

One of our most successful projects, which is the SAFE Safe Sidewalk Program, which I mentioned earlier waives permit fees to help private property owners make their own sidewalk repairs.

We need to add three full-time employees to continue this program beyond FY26.

So far, this program has generated 1.5 million dollars on sidewalk repairs paid by property owners.

And to be clear, this program will end in June without this funding.

As shared earlier, we have never really had a dedicated funding for bridge repairs and maintenance.

This would allow us to make the most critical repairs each year and extend the life of this important infrastructure.

The 1.1 million dollars for tree planting is critical if we want to continue the progress towards our canopy goals and continue to plant thousands of trees per year.

Again, if this goes unfunded, there will be zero trees planted across the city.

We also need additional staff to begin enforcing the street preservation ordinance.

Without staff, we simply don't have the capacity to enforce.

This funding would help chip away at various items like protecting our equipment from weather and making important uh roof repairs and other issues that come up throughout the year.

We also don't have a safety and training budget for the department.

All the safety gear that we purchase for our employees, all the PPE is currently absorbed within transportation's budget.

The last several items are aimed at reducing liability, upgrading technology, and conducting proactive maintenance.

And in summary, I want to reiterate the takeaways I I shared with you.

Critical work is happening, our backlogs continue to grow, and transportation department is ready to deliver when provided with the resources.

Thank you again for this opportunity.

I am happy to answer any questions.

Thank you for the presentation.

Sarah, do we have any public comment on this item?

Thank you, Chair.

Yes, we've received one speaker, Slipieran Chambers, and we have a few hands raised in the virtual queue.

So we'll begin with in-person testimony.

Arya Grossman, please approach the lecture, and you will have two minutes.

Good afternoon.

My name is Arya Grossman, and I'm the policy manager at Circulate San Diego.

And I wanted to comment on the 2027 Transportation Department budget preview section of the presentation.

I really want to thank the transportation department for including two of the Vision Zero coalition's budget priorities in this preview.

First being fixing the Fatal 15, which will really go a long way to making sure that less uh pedestrians and cyclists die on city roads, and the second being funding to implement the speed management plan.

Um, in addition to funding, I urge you to make a formal policy to prioritize slowing speeds in school zones as part of this plan.

I think we can all agree that prioritizing making walking to school safer for children should be a priority, um, especially given the death of six-year-old Hudson O'Laughlin less than two weeks ago, less than two blocks away from a school.

The request previews today did not include dedicated funding for daylighting implementation, which was the coalition's third request for this upcoming fiscal year.

And I know this isn't the full budget, um, and I hope to see all three items in the mayor's formal request.

Not only does daylighting make streets safer for kids walking to school, pedestrians and cyclists, but it's also just fair for drivers to know where they can and cannot park and if they're gonna get a ticket for parking somewhere or not.

I also want to change thank Chair Whitburn for making all three of these coalition requests a priority in your budget request this year.

And for those of you who didn't prioritize the requests, you did all right that vision zero generally is a priority, so thank you for that.

Um and I just want to underscore that these three items I mentioned today are requests that the sit the vision zero advocates citywide have come together and decided we'll go the furthest in making city safer for pedestrians and cyclists and making progress towards our vision zero goals.

So I urge you to advocate strongly for this funding and the final budget.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

I will be in the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment on item number 11.

We will begin with Anne Fage.

Please unmute and provide your testimony.

You will have two minutes.

Yeah, thank you.

Um for the update.

I'm gonna offer a number of comments on the urban forestry program.

The presentation emphasized funding to plant and take care of young planted trees, which is well placed.

It's time to catch up on contract tree funding.

There are now two contractors, much greater flexibility, backup.

Um, but the unit costs are understandably higher than the previous five-year contracts, and a budget increase is needed to provide the same level of services or similar.

In this work, you all is also a need to evaluate the frequency of trimming palms because they're expensive, may not be increasing public safety and draw resources from shade tree health and safety.

We appreciate the council's actions to increase staff in the past five years.

Thank you.

So now a lot more done, actually, a lot more work is really done that was simply impossible in 2020 when they only had four staff and eight tree care workers.

They still have the eight tree care workers, but have a staff of about 11, 10 or 11 plus the four that are funded by the grant.

Also, investment in trans technology has transformed urban and community forestry in all cities, and there's a real opportunity to accelerate this in the city, um, especially with the additional staff taking that on.

So in the get it done, there have been about 60,000 tree reports in the past 10 years.

Woo.

And compliments go out to the staff for getting work done.

In this data, there are amazing insights into tree conditions, safety risks, and what matters to residents and neighborhoods.

Last, the emphasis on CIP sidewalk work is greatly appreciated and needed, and trees will be part of that, all of that work.

In addition, uh trees and their benefits can be increased in many CIP projects.

So there's some insights.

I used to chair the tree board, and um delighted to still be engaged in increasing the effectiveness of our community forestry programs.

Thank you.

Thank you for that concluding remark.

Our next speaker is Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Um hi.

Thank you, Blair Beekman.

Thank you for the words of the previous public comment.

It was nice to hear.

Um I'm focused on tech accountability.

Um how policies can be open and clear and understandable and uh participatory.

Key word, participatory.

So yeah.

The presentation mentioned items of working with the future of streetlight issues and vision zero, that I think both items working towards better tech accountability can hopefully help facilitate, you know, a more clear conversations and more um friendly conversations.

I think it can be ways to break the iceberg and break the ice when we get so to speak.

Uh when we get stuck on you know how to better address issues together.

Um I think working towards uh you know a tech future where we're talking to each other about the policies being made, what tech can exactly be placed in the street lights is often a reason why tech is the street lights are so slow to be uh fixed, basically.

I feel and you know, there's just a lot of uh you know, mediation and and and and uh dialogue around what tech can go into this new streetlight, if it's acceptable or not, you know, and uh all of those questions have to be asked when it's more than just flicking on a light switch, you know, and getting the bulb going again.

There's a lot involved, and for us to have that clear conversation ready for all of us to better understand what is accountable, you know, how what tech is acceptable, you know, um those are those important conversations.

The same holds true with how we work with vision zero and how um all the tech involved in pedestrian bicycle things, working with accountability makes a better process for community and everyone.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes public testimony for item 11.

Thank you, Sarah.

I'll turn it over to committee members for questions and comments.

This is an informational item, so no motion is required.

We'll begin our conversation with Councilmember Lee.

Thank you, Chair.

Um thank you, Naomi, and thank you to the team for that's here for uh the work that you do.

Um, I certainly want to share uh my appreciation for the entire department um from the leadership down to the entire team that's helped to deliver on many of the accomplishments that you shared, um a lot of the efficiencies and all of it, uh despite the very limited resources that we've um been able to uh put together, especially in this last uh fiscal year.

Um I that's certainly something that we've appreciated and the focus that we've had on trying to um I don't want to say address all the issues of residents.

A lot of it is addressing a lot of the backlogs that we continue to try to um chase.

Um I know is appreciated when we have the opportunities to actually do so.

Um I do want to ask about a couple of the things that were listed in the presentation.

Um, first is the 4.2 million dollars uh of a mid-year budget request.

Um, is that on top of the funding that was already allocated or reallocated in earlier actions that the council took so far this year?

That is correct.

Okay.

Um then in the new budget outlook, uh when I uh took a look at that, that this is sort of a a preview of what's anticipated to be in the budget.

Um and I know several of the items here uh sound like they were items that were already I don't want to say typically planned for, but uh typically part of the budget.

Um, and then some of the items seem to specifically be new investments that we'd be making in the transportation department above and beyond.

Are these already confirmed to be in the upcoming budget that we would be anticipating?

No, this is our request, so we will be submitting it as part of the EBR process.

Okay, um, and so I I think I I appreciate getting a sense of these numbers and the requests to the council at this time.

Um I know when we get to our budget review process, uh, that's gonna be important as well.

I guess I'm just gonna openly ask has the details of this presentation been shared with our mayor and COO, given that when it comes to actual implementation of mid-year budget requests and the budget process, that's frankly where all of this starts.

Hi, Councilmember Lee, uh Bethany Bizak, Chief Performance and Logistics Officer.

Yes.

In fact, this presentation, all of the data and the content of the budget request has been shared with the mayor, and we've described the importance of all these items.

We've also come in and we're coming to you as well to say we don't think many of these likely will have the funding given the significant budget deficit that we're in, but we felt that it was really important to be very transparent.

Many of these are associated with risks, and many of them are associated with growing backlogs, and so we didn't want that to go unknown to the public and also to committee members and council members.

Thank you for sharing that.

I and I appreciate the detail of it.

Um I don't know that at least I'm not recollecting the same specificity in the last couple of years, and I would probably argue that if if we had this kind of message when we were debating measure E as a city, that it might have had an impact for voters trying to understand exactly where dollars were needed to be invested to actually improve things for the city.

I think for me what's a little bit perplexing is hearing all of this here today in terms of requests that even maybe some folks from the public are are here listening in on it.

Um but for many members of the public seems to be a jarring message.

Uh a time when what we have continued to hear is the threats of mid-year cuts, the threats of a looming budget deficit, um of a sizable amount, and that if there's anyone who should be hearing the message of what's needed to be able to make the decisions that are needed, since that has been noted multiple times, frankly it's the mayor.

So I just know now here because I I think we have all along understood the challenges that we're facing as a city and that we've got tough decisions ahead of us uh to make as well, but to have them drawn out this way today.

I I don't I I'm not sure.

I I'm just giving you a very frank opinion that this was not the update that I would have expected from the transportation department.

Um I get in you know, discussions around the budget, and as we try to formulate that budget, it'll be helpful once we actually know what's gonna be put on the table.

So I I guess I would ask the mayor's representative is there a response to the items that are being proposed here.

Are we anticipating that some of these may or may not be met?

Or are we presenting them only to tell the public that we're not gonna meet them?

So this is uh getting ahead of the budget development process, trying to be as transparent as possible with council about the information that is being um analyzed and looked at by mayor's office executive team and developing the budget that will ultimately be presented to you.

Uh, we felt it was being open and transparent about what the needs are coming from the departments.

Um, so that you have that in advance of of your additional budget discussions.

We have the EBR process ramping up next week.

All of this will be discussed and has has been discussed.

Um, so we'll have to make those tough decisions, as you said, about where do our priorities fall as a city.

These are a lot of really uh important core services, other departments have needs as well.

All of that will have to be considered in what the mayor ultimately proposes in April.

Understood.

Uh, I mean, I can tell you as a council member that I certainly do wish that we could grant you the mid-year budget needs that you need, because I think you've outlined very clearly what the challenges are and the funding that's necessary for the city to continue the work that we're doing.

Um similarly, some of the requests that you've proposed for next year.

I certain all of us would uh would love to support uh if if our circumstances were in a position to be able to do that.

So you know, on my end, I certainly I look forward to hearing what we get from the mayor when it comes to the budget and even in the mid-year uh to see if there's any opportunity to actually address these items.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Lee, Councilmember Von Wolpert.

Uh thank you, Chair, and um thank you for the excellent presentation.

Uh to be honest, I'm actually so impressed with the work that the Department of Transportation has done over this last year.

And uh, and especially the detail with which you bring it to us, including the fact that we're training people in-house to provide OSHA safety training.

I mean, that's something that we should be so proud of and celebrate that our own employees are teaching our own employees OSHA, and um, as I say, coming from the labor movement, you know, OSHA was written in blood.

Uh, people died so that we could have uh better rules and workplaces and got hurt, and so I just think that's fantastic.

Um, and the 2025 highlights uh paving 543 lane miles of road when the goal was only 445.

That's fantastic.

We exceeded it.

Same thing with the mill and paved teams, um, which thank you.

Uh, Scripps Ranch is still very proud of that.

Uh, thank you very much for that one patch of Jerubeck uh scripts trails that really needed to be done.

Uh the constituents literally baked us a cake with a road on it.

Um, so hopefully you guys got to see that as well.

Um, great news that we're planting more trees, especially trees that hopefully will not lift their roots for the sidewalks in the future.

I wish that our predecessors had thought of that originally.

And um, I am so sorry that you had to do all of this from the terrible conditions in the choice operations yard.

Uh, I want to extend to the employees who are you know hiking every day and walking miles and have to take a shuttle just to park their cars to get into their workplaces because what 50, 60 years ago, the previous city leadership decided to build a huge operation yard over a sealed landfill, which of course landfills are not stable, and so they shift.

Thank you to Bethany for having us come out there to firsthand see it.

And that is yet another giant problem we have to fix at the city upon all the other problems.

So I just want to thank the employees for still being dedicated and coming to work even though you have to go through this horrible parking situation.

So I'm just I'm very very proud of of the work that you guys are doing including reducing the backlog of potholes to l around 50 citywide that's fantastic and the street repair the sidewalk repair it's obviously been a great success the um permit uh pilot program where we don't charge people to to fix their own sidewalks um and it it's working so I just I want to say kudos to your department for this and this work.

And then also it is a stark reality we do have to talk about that this we won't be able to do as much without funding and the city is facing a budget crisis citywide and so it's very apparent it is helpful for me though to see exactly what may suffer if we have to do budget cuts in certain ways.

And and I encourage every department to be open and transparent so that the city people can see it.

But one question I do have is with the electricians having to do all the the dig alerts for you know private corporations and whatnot I know we had a discussion initially about do we charge a fee for service for that right now we do it for free.

But have we made any progress on you know charging for that service.

We currently have a working group um having discussions and and uh bringing a plan for for uh fee recovery for markouts and uh just to clarify the markouts are for transportation that our streetlight electricians are doing are for transportation assets only.

Okay.

Got it.

Thank you.

Um well I would certainly be supportive of that in recovering um fees for that work um and the increase in the the cost of the materials we need you know the asphalt the gravel everything we've been seeing that as ever since the pandemic I mean at first these companies blame the war in Ukraine and then they blame the pandemic and so you know has there been industry wide I know that you guys have been thinking hard about how do we reduce those costs because we're gonna need asphalt every year.

We're gonna need cement every year and so how do we buy in bulk or reduce the cost or any thoughts on on that at this point.

Thank you member uh councilmember von Wilbert so uh engineering capital projects had done an assessment about what that looked like unfortunately what I would say is as our road repairs go down it means the volume and the potential for bulk discounts probably goes down as well.

So the feasibility I think of that is probably fleeting honestly at this point.

If we had a robust and we had a dedicated asphalt overlay program that we knew we would dedicate a a significant amount of money each year then I think that would allow us to lock in large quantity discounts with the vendors and to be able to get some of that benefit that you've been speaking about.

So I don't think that it's off the table by any means we're definitely would like to do something like that but the quantity of road repairs is just not at the volume that we would expect and hope it to be.

Okay and that's because we haven't been able to fund it not because we don't need the roads are to be repaired.

Exactly correct okay um okay has anyone ever thought about having our own batch plant um yes as a matter of fact when we published the 2024 pavement management plan we dedicated a whole appendice to that's which would bring that in house uh there's actually only three municipalities in the nation that have gone that approach we found that initially it would be very expensive to do so um so the choice maintenance yard is quite frankly our most urgent need right now and then after if we had a dedicated funding source that's something we could look at long term.

Okay got thank you thank you for reminding me that that was in there um and I'm really glad we're doing the pavement management plan every year and updating it so that it outlasts all of us up you know and people in the future can actually have a a plan whether we can fund it is a whole different question uh working on that I know there's some sales tax proposals going on again but this is super helpful for us in my office to know and to see so that we can think about the mid-year budget adjustments.

Of course every department's going to be asking uh for things but um I just I really appreciate you guys being so thorough and detailed and letting us know what's in here and thank you Chair for docketing the update.

Thank you Councilmember Von Wilpert um I will join the chorus uh in saying that I thought this was a really helpful informative presentation.

Thank you for bringing it to us.

Uh and I want to commend uh the department leadership and staff.

I it's been my perception that the transportation department is an efficient, cost effective operation.

Um I think we saw uh a good bit of evidence of that in the presentation today.

And a lot of the very fundamental stuff that the transportation department uh manages uh is also very closely tied to public safety.

I mean, traffic safety, um certainly sidewalk safety.

Uh people feel much safer when the street lights are on at night.

Um even the tree maintenance uh, you know, if you get unmaintained trees in falling branches, that's a hazard as well.

So um really understand the importance of the funding needs uh in the department.

I also want to say uh in the district that I represent, where we have uh an abundance of parking meters, I have really appreciated the acceleration of the use of those revenues for streetlight repairs and uh other needs, and we've really seen that.

I mean, in downtown, uptown, North Park, um when that funding became available uh from the uh parking meters, the transportation department really got on it and started making those uh improvements immediately, and that did not go unnoticed, and it's very much appreciated.

Um got a lot of constituent inquiries as well.

Uh, you know, and I'm aware of that, and I appreciate your responsiveness when uh folks call us or folks call you to let us know about uh needs in their neighborhoods uh and and the expediency that you put to addressing those needs.

It's appreciated.

So uh thank you again.

Uh appreciate your presentation, and uh we'll look forward to seeing what we can do uh as the budget unfolds.

So thank you.

All right, uh that was an informational item.

No motion uh was required on that one, and that brings us to the end of our agenda today.

Uh thank you to the members of the public and the staff for your participation.

I will now adjourn this meeting of the Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to the next regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, February 19th, 2026 at one o'clock in the afternoon.

We are adjourned.